27th European Conference on Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care, Basel, Switzerland, 14 - 17 August 2013
27th European Conference on Philosophy of Medicine and Health Care
Basel, Switzerland, August 14-17,
2013
Abstract
Abortion on Demand, as a midcourse for ethical responsibility of governments
Yesim Isil Ulman, PhD[1]
The
beginning of life issues cover, paradoxically, the ethical deliberation
regarding the values about ending life. The discussions focus on
decision-making concerned with the termination of prenatal life. The debates
question the status, the identity of the embryo and fetus, vis-à-vis woman’s right to self-determination and fulfill her free
will on her own body as an autonomous individual. It is undeniable that the
fetus has potential to be born as a human being, if not intervened. The conflict
between the woman’s right to decide on her own body and the status of the
embryo as a potentiality to evolve into a human being, has not been solved. The
legal limit for abortion on demand seems to be a midcourse of action to support
both the autonomy of the woman by enabling her to make decision on her own future
and also to protect the fetus on the basis of the value of life after a certain
period of time in the womb.
Abortion
on demand is ethically indispensable to prevent the maternal mortality due to
the unlawful abortion and to assure the life of fetus. The Abortion Act (Nufus
Planlamasi Hakkinda Kanun) in Turkey has provided the legal basis of this
ethical conflict by guiding both the couples and the health professionals since
it was enacted in 1983. The scientific data confirm that not only the maternal
mortality has gone down, but also education on the family planning and on contraception
methods have improved considerably since the Law was ratified.
This
paper attempts to take up the matter in the perspective of value of life and the
idea human rights by taking into consideration of recent arguments and legal
amendments carried out in Turkey, by giving emphasis to right to health,
women’s health, right to reproduction, right to privacy and right to
self-determination.
Key Words: Abortion,
right to health, right to reproduction, reproductive health, ethical
implications.
Referential Sources
· Turkish Bioethics Association’s
Statement on the Beginning of Life (Abortion and Curettage), 2012
· Contemporary Issues in Bioethics,
ed: Beuchamp, L Walters, J Kahn, A Mastroianni, 7th edition, Wadsworth 2008.
· A Companion to Bioethics, ed: H
Kuhse, P Singer, Wiley-Blackwell 3rd ed., 2012.
·
The
Cambridge Textbook of Bioethics, ed: P Singer, AM Viens, Cambridge, NY 2008
[1] Yesim
Isil Ulman, MA, MSc, PhD. Prof. of Medical History and Ethics, Acibadem Univ.
School of Medicine
Istanbul – Turkey / yesimul@yahoo.com