LESSON 11:

APPLIED ETHICS
refers to the branch of ethics that focusses on particular situations in life
where the principles in ethics can be applied (Glenn 1968, xiii). Bioethics,
business ethics and social ethics are examples of applied ethics.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:

•At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

•Examine the different reproductive issues;

•Determine the different perspectives on the issues; and
•Evaluate the morality of these reproductive issues.
APPLIED ETHICS
• Moral principles and theories are deemed absurd if they are not used to examine issues
and to determine what is ethically right using moral reasoning. As we know Applied
ethics refers to the branch of ethics that focusses on particular situations in life where the
principles in ethics can be applied (Glenn 1968, xiii). Particularly, this tackles reproductive
issues like abortion, reproductive technology and the issue of contraception.
REPRODUCTIVE
ISSUES

ABORTION
REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY
CONTRACEPTION
 Abortion is
the ending of
ABORTION a pregnancy.
ABORT ION
• Technically speaking, abortion is known as the termination or the ending of a pregnancy. This
moral issue has raised a number of moral debates which is primarily rooted on the issue of the
sanctity of human life. Some pro-life advocates believe that abortion is intrinsically evil, thus
morally reprehensible, due to deliberate ending of human life which starts at conception. Some
pro-choice advocates on the other hand staunchly declare that it is the woman’s prerogative to
decide on what to do with her body. But before dealing with some moral judgments on the
issue, let us first be clarified with the different kinds of abortion. There are basically three (3)
kinds of abortion (Vaughn, 2017).
3 KINDS OF ABORT ION

•Abortion due to natural causes is known as spontaneous abortion, or

miscarriage.
•Intentional termination of pregnancy is called induced abortion.
•Abortion performed to preserve the life or health of the mother is
referred to as therapeutic abortion.
1. SPONTANEOUS ABORT ION

This kind of abortion is caused by the natural course of things. It is also called as miscarriage.
Usually, this kind of abortion happens when the woman or mother meets an unfortunate
accident that leads to the ending of her pregnancy. This kind of abortion is never intentional
hence not deliberate. Therefore, the moral agent, in this case, the mother, is not accountable for
the said abortion because she lacks freedom and will. Considering the criteria for human
accountability, this particular act does not qualify as a human act, but rather as an act of man.
This kind of abortion is then judged as not morally wrong.
2. INDUCED ABORT ION

This kind of abortion is also called as deliberate abortion. In this

kind of abortion there is an intention to abort the fetus or the
intention to end one’s pregnancy. Usually, this kind of abortion
raises a number of moral objections. Moral objections mainly
come from the sanctity of human life argument.
3. THERAPEUT IC ABORT ION
This kind of abortion is performed in medical emergency situations. An example of this situation is ectopic
pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized ovum is stuck in the fallopian tube rather than
sliding down to the uterus. In this case, the life of the mother is danger. Hence, the only reasonable thing
to do is to end the woman’s pregnancy. Some ethicists do not consider such an abortion as malicious or
objectionable. Rather, it is considered as therapeutic because it aims to save the mother’s life. Consequently,
the fertilized ovum has to be removed. Applying the principle of double effect, therapeutic abortion is
morally permissible because the primary intention is to save the woman’s life (which is considered good),
the elimination of the ovum is just the consequent effect.
3 POSIT IONS ON THE ISSUE:

1. Conservative View: Abortion is never morally justifiable (unless the intention is to save the
mother's life), according to conservatives, because the unborn is a full human being.
Conservatives argue that because there is no clear cutoff point between zygote and adult
human, the unborn should be treated as an innocent person from the moment of conception.
Christian morality shares with this moral point of view. Induced abortion is not morally
acceptable and is considered as mortal sin from the Catholic Christian perspective.
POSIT IONS ON THE ISSUE:

•2. Liberal View: The liberal viewpoint maintains that abortion is permissible
whenever a woman desires it, because the unborn child is not a human being in
the full sense of the term. Liberals argue that simply being biologically human is
insufficient to establish personhood, and that a fetus lacks the characteristics that
define a person. The liberal view argues that the woman who bears the fetus or
ovum inside her body has the absolute right over her body and whatever inside it.
POSIT IONS ON THE ISSUE:
• 3. Moderate View: The moderate position is in the middle, rejecting both the conservative
position of no tolerance for abortion and the liberal position of abortion on demand. All sides
agree that murder is abhorrent, that people have a right to life, and that personal liberty should
not be restricted until absolutely necessary. Judith Jarvis Thomson, a moderate, says that even
if the conservative opinion that the fetus is a person from the time of conception is valid,
abortion may still be morally permissible in some circumstances. The right to life of the unborn
is not absolute; it indicates that killing a fetus is always unlawful, but only when it is done
unfairly. This view argues that in some cases abortion is permissible on justifiable grounds.
 Assisted reproductive
technology (ART) is
designed to address the
problem of infertility,
REPRODUCTIVE which affects millions
of couples worldwide..
TECHNOLOGY
 • In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one such technology,
consisting of the uniting of sperm and egg in a
laboratory dish, instead of inside a woman’s
IN VITRO body. There are numerous variations on basic IVF,
FERTILIZATION including gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) and
(IVF) zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT). IVF can help
many couples overcome infertility, but it is
expensive, and IVF cycles pose health risks to
both woman and child.
SURROGACY

•A surrogate is a woman who gestates a fetus for others, usually for a couple or
another woman. She contracts with them to carry the pregnancy to term, to
relinquish the baby at birth, and to let them legally adopt it. Thus, in surrogacy
relationships, we can distinguish between genetic (or biological), gestational, and social
(or rearing) parents. Probably the most pervasive argument against surrogacy is that
surrogacy arrangements amount to baby-selling, a blatant affront to human dignity.
CLONING

•Cloning is the asexual production of a genetically identical entity from an

existing one. All the cells of a clone contain the same blueprint as all the cells
of the clone’s progenitor. The cloning that has provoked the most debate and
media attention is human reproductive cloning, the creation of a genetic
duplicate of an adult human. So far, no human has been successfully cloned
and is not likely to be any time soon.
CONTRACEPTION
Contraception is a term which used to refer to any
method and practice which may use tools, devices and
instruments which can prevent conception or pregnancy.
CONTRACEPT ION
• Contraception which is loosely translated as birth control method is defined medically as the “use of any
practices, methods, or devices that prevent pregnancy.” Similarly, an article from Medical News Today
defines contraception as “the use of various devices, drugs, agents, sexual practices, or surgical
procedures to prevent conception or pregnancy.” In other words, contraception is a term which used to
refer to any method and practice which may use tools, devices and instruments which can prevent
conception or pregnancy. John Noonan (1996) in the same way defines contraception in a similar vein,
hence, “contraception is a term which can be applied to any behavior, method or action which prevents
conception.”
CONTRACEPT ION
• Fundamentally, contraception refers to any act which prevents conception though there is a possibility or
impossibility of creating one. A distinction should also be made between contraception and family
planning method. Contraception is simply the act or method of preventing conception. Hence,
contraception can be present within the context of family planning. This is why contraception is
sometimes identified as family planning method. However, it could also be the case that contraception is
done outside marriage and hence not having in mind the thought about family planning. In this case
contraception is not used for family planning or birth spacing but solely to prevent conception and
pregnancy.
2 KINDS OF CONTRACEPT ION

•NATURAL CONTRACEPTION – Contraception without the use

tools, devices and instruments.
•ARTIFICIAL CONTRACEPTION - Contraception with the use tools,
devices and. instruments
On the morality of Contraception

•The Catholic Church only proposes the use of the natural method of birth control. In the
discussion of John T. Noonan Jr., he cites three main reasons proposed by the Catholic
Church for prohibiting the use of artificial forms of contraception, tracing the dominant
texts in the medieval period trying to condemn the use of these methods. The reasons
are: (1) Using artificial contraceptives is a form of homicide; (2) Using artificial
contraceptives is unnatural; (3) Using artificial contraceptives destroys marital relations.
(Noonan, 1986 p. 231 )
REFERENCES
HUM 003: Ethics USI Vincentian Learning Module

Books:

Noonan, J. (1986). Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and

Canonists. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Sambajon, Jr, Marvin Julian L. (2007). Health Care Ethics. Quezon City: C & E Publishing, Inc.

Vaughn, L (2017). Bioethics: Principles, Issues, and Cases. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hatcher, MD, Robert A., and et. al. (1990). Contraceptive Technology, 15th Revised Edition. New York:
Irvington Publishers Inc.

Internet Source:
Templeton, S. (2007). “Babies Aborted for Minor Disabilities.” Times Online.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2689787.ece. Accessed 24
August 2020.