In week 9, we have discussed about some of the contemporary ethical issues. This lecture was given by Dr. Ahamad Faozy whereby he gave us a very clear explanation regarding the contemporary ethical issues. To start with, Contemporary ethical issues are also known as modern virtue ethics which was popularized since the late 1900s. In fact, there many issues that are related to contemporary ethical issues but he chose just some of the interesting and important topics as we did not have enough time to finish discussing all those issues. Some contemporary ethical issues that we have discussed were abortion, suicide, surrogate motherhood, mercy killing and so forth.
First thing first, abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. Perhaps it can be miscarriage or unintentionally and purposely induced or intentionally do it. Actually there are some reasons that lead individuals or pregnant women to do the abortion. One of the reasons is because they are not yet ready to take or carry this responsibility which might be because they have been left by their husband or both of them are not ready to be a parent. Another reason might be because they think that having a baby will disturb their life which makes them become annoying. For me, doing abortion is unethical and immoral to do it as it affects and destroys one life. When they do the abortion, it is like they are killing one life or one human being who is not even given a chance to live and see the world. I am wondering, even the animal love their children but why people do not even love their children as they attempt to kill their own child which is actually a gift given by god.
The second issue is about surrogacy which can be divided into 2 types. The first one is genetic or partial surrogacy and the second one is altruistic surrogacy. Indeed, genetic or partial surrogacy is when the egg of the surrogate mother is fertilized by the commissioning male’s sperm. Hence, in this case, surrogate mother is the biological mother. For the second type of surrogacy which is altruistic surrogacy, it is in the case whereby the surrogate mother is not paid for her service. It means that she offers her womb as an act of altruism. Even though surrogacy gives benefits to other people, such as, it can fulfill the dream of couples to have a baby by infertile but it is immoral to do it as it is considered like they are selling their physical or intimate bodily service. Some people attempt to do the surrogacy because they need money as they can gain more money by doing surrogacy. In my opinion, it is unethical to do the surrogacy because it will create many problems later on. For instance, who is the real mother actually? Even me, I was wondering and still wondering about that question. Besides, it makes me confused and till now I do not get the answer.
The third issue is about cloning which refers to somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In fact, it is the creation of a genetic copy of sequence DNA or of the entire genome of an organism. The practice could provide genetically identical cells for regenerative medicine and tissues and organs for transplantation. Cloning has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are, it enable the prospective parents to control the genome of their children. The practice could provide genetically identical cells for regenerative medicine and tissues and organs for transplantation. On the other hand, the disadvantages are having health risk and a very low success rate in cloning which means that they have to take a risk perhaps it might be successful and might not be successful. For me, I personally disagree with cloning because it against the law of god as it can control the genome of children or create a new creation.
For the second session, we have discussed about mercy killing which is also one of the interesting topics. Indeed, mercy killing or euthanasia has been considered as good death. It is done with the purpose to relieve the intractable suffering of people by using medication. Besides, it is also the termination of life by the doctor at the request of a patient. Mercy killing or euthanasia is divided into 3 types which are voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia. Voluntary euthanasia is considered as legal in some countries such as US. Unlike Voluntary euthanasia, Non-voluntary euthanasia is considered as illegal in all countries and for involuntary euthanasia, it is considered as murder. The last one is, Suicide, it is an act of intentionally causes one’s own death. Mental disorder such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, and drug abuse are the factors that have contributed to suicide. There are three types of suicide which are completed suicide, attempted suicide and assisted suicide. Firstly, completed suicide is the act of taking one’s own life. Second is attempted suicide or non-fatal suicidal behavior. This is called as self-injury with the desire to end the life that does not result in death. The last one is assisted suicide. It occurs when one individual helps another bring about their own death indirectly via providing either advice or means to end.