Abortion and the Medical Profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Abortion and the Medical Profession - Essay Example Perhaps no other issue stirs up heated debates and fierce emotions than that of abortion. It is one of the most contentious issues in society today. Medical and health care professionals are often put into a serious quandary regarding abortion and their professional practice in regards to their personal and religious beliefs. This issue of abortion clearly has ethical implications for people who want to avail of these surgical procedures and the ones performing them. Like any divisive issue, there are no easy answers to such a sticky emotional issue. In most cases, it all boils down to one’s deeply-held personal beliefs that will determine a stance the person has on a certain issue such as abortion. Before the landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court passed in the Roe vs. Wade decision, abortion was legal in a few states but illegal in most states of the country. Other countries do likewise have similar ambivalent laws regarding such a basic issue as human life and the right to life of an unborn child. The medical profession forbids the taking of life as contained in its Hippocratic Code. However, there are clearly certain instances in which abortion is justified (based on medical grounds) to be performed such as a threat to the life of the pregnant woman or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.