Question

issues in pregnancy:

Chervenak and McCullough’s argument focuses on one specific procedure. Would their argument work for other conditions that have been the basis for court-ordered cesareans such as fetal distress or stalled labor?

answer should demonstrate your understanding of the article, so make sure you have (a) an explanation of some specific argument in the article you choose and (b) an analysis of the argument. You can also invoke other articles in your discussion.

Answer 1

The author comments on the argument, for nonaggressive obstetric management of third trimester pregnancies with virtually untreatable anomalies, developed in the same journal issue by Frank Chervenak and Laurence McCullough, who base their argument on the ethical principles of autonomy and beneficence. While he views the argument for nonaggressive treatment from autonomy as less subject to internal contradiction, he stresses that beneficence can be used to argue for either aggressive or nonaggressive treatment based on varying values. The difficulty with Chervenak and McCullough's position arises because they identify nonaggressive treatment as beneficent and thereby imply that mothers who choose aggressive treatment violate that principle. Abrams argues that such a choice may rather indicate a different interpretation of beneficence so that only active intervention is morally acceptable.

Ethics is an essential dimension of the management of counseling a pregnant woman when a neurologic

anomaly is diagnosed. This paper provides an overview of obstetric ethics, with a central focus on the

ethical concept of the fetus as a patient. On this basis, the authors analyze the ethical and clinical

dimensions of the obstetric management options for pregnancies complicated by a neurologic anomaly.

These management options include aggressive management, induced abortion, termination of pregnancy

during the third trimester, non-aggressive obstetric management, and cephalocentesis.