Ethical Issues

3. Abortion: Should abortion be allowed? Is this a religious or a legal issue?

A. What about if the life of the mother is endangered?

B. What if the fetus is found to be anencephalic –no functioning brain–

Or if it has some other either catastrophic congenital defect?

Is Down's Syndrome–moderate retardation–grounds for an abortion?

C. How late can an abortion be performed? 3 months? 5 months? 7 months?

D. How early can an abortion be performed?

Is the "morning-after pill?" an abortion? (I.e. before the embryo has implanted into the uterus)

E. Should the community regulate contraception or is this for the individual to decide?

4. Suicide: How should the community relate to the problem of suicide? Should there be any legal constraints at all?

A. Might it be allowed only to stop the suffering of the terminally ill?

B. What about people whose illnesses deprive life of its meaning–not terminal, but severely handicapped, or dying over years, but not immediately terminal. Should they be allowed to kill themselves?

C. What about those who can't do it themselves? Should assisted suicide be allowed?

D. What about those who can't even decide? Should euthanasia be allowed in any circumstances?

(1) What about those who have failed to leave an advanced directive: If they are left in a vegetative state after an accident, stroke, etc., when is it okay to "pull the plug?"

(2). Should a consideration of the legal device of advanced directives be made a compulsory unit–you don't have to sign it, but you do have to discuss why you won't–for people at age 80? 60? 30? In college?

5. Parenthood: Is there a "right" to parenthood? Should we support anyone who wants to be a parent in this activity? What if they are thought to be "unfit"? What makes a person "unfit" as a parent? (This is related to the next topic of abuse.) How much attention does a child really...