I am using the moral compass for my Ethics Class.

Instructions

This assignment has three parts: 1) Research and summarize an article, 2) compare/contrast the article with the Ethics textbook, and 3) share your reaction. Write three paragraphs, as follows:

Summary (150 words minimum)

Research a reliable article published within the last six months that contains an ethical/moral issue about abortion. Be sure to review the Research Help materials. Summarize the article; use content, key terms, and concepts from the Ethics textbook. Use your own words. Do not use quotations. Paraphrase the information, and provide in-text citation(s) with page number(s), where appropriate. In the Works Cited, be sure to include your article, properly formatted including its title, date of publication, and link.

Compare/Contrast (150 words minimum)

Compare and contrast the article with the Ethics textbook chapter. Be specific. Does the chapter agree/disagree, etc. How is the information in the article similar and/or different from what is presented in the Ethics textbook chapter? Use your own words. Do not use quotations. Paraphrase the information, and provide in-text citation(s) with page number(s), where appropriate.

Reaction (150 words minimum)

Share your reaction to the article. What was something that surprised you, or that you found interesting? How do you feel about the situation? Is there something you agree with, or something that should have been handled differently?

ANSWER

Abortion

 Summary 

According to an article by Totenberg (1), the US supreme court chose to uphold Texas laws that ban abortions after about six weeks. By a vote of 5-4, the supreme court permitted Texas to enact such a law, and deem it illegal to get or render an abortion after one is past six weeks pregnant. This is a contentious issue, where it has both proponents and those who are completely against it. According to the opponents of such a ruling, the court denies mothers the right to do what they deem right with an unborn child. Other states such as Florida are likely to follow suit into enacting such laws that deny mothers the right to abortion. However, one Chief Justice John Roberts, in his ruling was against such a decision. This is since, he is a great upholder of abortion rights, who views the Texas law as unprecedented since not only does it ban abortion after six weeks, but also delegates for enforcement powers not just to the state officials, but also to the general “populace at large” (Totenberg 1). According to him, the law seems to be deliberately structured to prevent courts from being able to consider the constitutionality of the law.

 Comparison 

According to chapter five of the book, the Moral Compass by Thompson (59), each individual has the right to decide about what approach best suits challenges unique to his life. This is clearly against the ruling of the supreme court judge which denies mothers to have an abortion if they deem fit it right. According to the book, people have tremendous disparities of challenges which can be in terms of income and opportunity.

The author suggests that people have different views and also lead different lives, and hence should be allowed to do what they deem moral, as long as it does not against the law. Human self-understanding includes materials, spiritual, social, and individual dimensions of agency and identity. This is contrary to the ruling of the US supreme court, which failed to factor in such factors before upholding a bill that limited a mother to do what she wanted to do with her fetus. The author further talks about a human understanding, where she states that humans have moral consciousness, meaning that humans need to be given a chance to make their own decisions (Thompson 59). This is clearly against the supreme court ruling, which is stopping pregnant women from among the decisions, they see deem for themselves.

 Reaction 

After reading the article by Totenberg (1), I was surprised and astonished by such a decision made by the supreme court. I feel that the ruling by the supreme court is quite controversial given the earlier rulings in the country which were in favor of abortion, making it legal to any woman in the United States. This is quite a critical issue that is likely to cause a huge debate between the conservatives and the progressive people in the country. Texas, the state with such a law is also likely to cause a lot of attention to other states and could make some borrow the laws about abortion. I feel that more consultations ought to have been undertaken before introducing such laws given the gaps identified by the dissenting judges. Some of the issues that ought to be addressed include issues such as if the unborn baby affects the wellbeing of the mother, and how the state officials will be able to determine that one is over six weeks pregnant.

Works Cited

Thompson, L. J. ” The moral compass: Leadership for a free world. IAP.” (2009).

TOTENBERG, NINA. “The Supreme Court Heads Toward Reversing Abortion Rights.” (September, 2021). <https://www.npr.org/2021/09/03/1033733918/the-supreme-court-heads-toward-reversing-abortion-rights>.