Two Ethical Questions!

[AsianColumbus]

1. If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had eight kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis; would you recommend that she have an abortion?

2. It is time to elect the world leader, and your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:

Candidate A - Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B - He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whisky every evening.

Candidate C - He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?

Post your answers

[Querida]

yeah have gotten this forward alot of times sorry to be a spoiler sport but the first answer is no cause then Ludwig Van Beethoven would never have been born

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Candidate B is Winston Churchill,
Candidate C is Adolf Hitler.

[Guyana]

>> If you go to hell, you'll be so darn busy shaking hands with all your friends, you won't have time to worry! <<

Asian Columbus,

I noticed your other thread is locked, so I brought forward this point here (see just above)in light of what you said in this thread "He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian"

Indianness of today is certainly not the same of yesteryears. And I am sure today, it will take more than Indianess to prevent going to hell. So why worry, argue indeed and about What, when we are all likely to end up in the same place?

[Ilavenil]

1. If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had eight kids already, three who were deaf, two who were blind, one mentally retarded, and she had syphilis; would you recommend that she have an abortion?

2. It is time to elect the world leader, and your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three leading candidates:

Candidate A - Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologists. He's had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B - He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whisky every evening.

Candidate C - He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian, doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn't had any extramarital affairs.

Which of these candidates would be your choice?

Post your answers

Q1: Abortion??? No way! Syphilis is treatable infection. All you need is Penicillin shots. Moreover, severity of the congenital defects depends on the spirocheate load. As years passes, level comes down and chances of the patient having a healthy baby is better.

Q2: Of course I would pick Candidate C. He has proved himself by fighting for his country, (definitely not because he is a vegetarian ), assuming that you are not talking about Hitler only.

[LastMoor]

cool questions...i liked it

[P_R]

On a parallell note. Here's another interesting question. I think it is Peter Singer's qn, or he himself was quoting someone else. Here goes:

Scenario A
Pregnant mother goes to the doctor. After check-up doctor says :' given the current state the baby will be born with a deformity, however take this pill and the there'll be no problem'. The woman can well afford the pill but she refuses to take it. the kid is born with a defect.

Scenario B
Woman goes to doctor before conception. Doctor says, given your state the child you conceive will be deformed. Wait for three months, you'll be okay by then. After that the child you conceive will be healthy. The woman disregards the advice and goes ahead and conceives the child. the child is born deformed.

Question:
Can the child so born ask the question: 'Why did you do this to me' to its mother ? Will she have a defense ? Is there a difference in the two scenarios ?

Answer hubbers

[Ilavenil]

Scenario A
Pregnant mother goes to the doctor. After check-up doctor says :' given the current state the baby will be born with a deformity, however take this pill and the there'll be no problem'. The woman can well afford the pill but she refuses to take it. the kid is born with a defect.

Question:
Can the child so born ask the question: 'Why did you do this to me' to its mother ? Will she have a defense ? Is there a difference in the two scenarios ?

Answer hubbers

Of course the child can question it's mom. But, in court of law, I don't think this will stand. There are many kids with polio attack in India because their parents had refused to give them vaccination. Parents have rights to refuse. But, they would remain guilty for rest of their life.

[Ilavenil]

Scenario B
Woman goes to doctor before conception. Doctor says, given your state the child you conceive will be deformed. Wait for three months, you'll be okay by then. After that the child you conceive will be healthy. The woman disregards the advice and goes ahead and conceives the child. the child is born deformed.

Question:
Can the child so born ask the question: 'Why did you do this to me' to its mother ? Will she have a defense ? Is there a difference in the two scenarios ?

Answer hubbers

Lets say the mother has diabetes. The doctor advices her to conceive only after her blood sugar level is stabilized. As per your scenario, lets say she becomes pregnant, is she at fault? Can the child ask it's mom why she did it? Yeah! But in court of law, this will not stand. No one can question someone how can she become pregnant eventhough she was warned. It is still mother's decision. But, like previous scenario, the mother would feel guilty life long.

[P_R]

Ilavenil in both cases you mentioned the aspect of the case's ability to stand in court. Though the perspective is of practical relevance the issue is extraneous to the ethical argument. If I understnd right you consider it unethical in either case, as parents live with guilt. More precisely , you say the child can question the mother even in the second scenario:

Lets say the mother has diabetes. The doctor advices her to conceive only after her blood sugar level is stabilized. As per your scenario, lets say she becomes pregnant, is she at fault? Can the child ask it's mom why she did it? Yeah!

I say (ok, Peter Singer says) NO. This situation is radically different from scenario A. Try guessing the underlying argument.
Because if you buy this logic it takes the abortion,contraception debate to a new level.
I'll let it lie for a day or two for other hubbers also.

[Ilavenil]

Ilavenil in both cases you mentioned the aspect of the case's ability to stand in court. Though the perspective is of practical relevance the issue is extraneous to the ethical argument. If I understnd right you consider it unethical in either case, as parents live with guilt. More precisely , you say the child can question the mother even in the second scenario:

Lets say the mother has diabetes. The doctor advices her to conceive only after her blood sugar level is stabilized. As per your scenario, lets say she becomes pregnant, is she at fault? Can the child ask it's mom why she did it? Yeah!

I say (ok, Peter Singer says) NO. This situation is radically different from scenario A. Try guessing the underlying argument.
Because if you buy this logic it takes the abortion,contraception debate to a new level.
I'll let it lie for a day or two for other hubbers also.

I have seen many parents feeling guilty if their baby is born deformed. They keep questioning themselves, is it the "coke" I drank when I was pregnant, is it because I went hiking during pregnancy, is it because my neighbour had cold or is it because I didn't go to hospital at the right time? They spend lot of time finding out why this happened, even though it is not their fault. It is because parents think it is their duty to protect their children. There is nothing wrong in this but not everything is possible. If this is the case with parents who didn't know why this happened, don't you think if someone who is being warned and well informed already, who knew things might go wrong, it will definitely make them feel guilty, if they didn't follow the advice carefully.