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Kass and McMahan Essay
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Kass and McMahan Essay
Introduction
A human being is the most perfect creations created by God till now. It is also the most complex creations of God with every system perfectly placed and working in coordination. The artistry should be appreciated that how it starts from a single cell and then a combination of many individual cells of the same type makes a tissue; many similar tissues combine to form an organ, different organs working similarly make an organ system, and ultimately multiple systems combine to form a human body. Most of the people are born complete in every aspect, they have all the organs which are working properly and everything in a body that is required to live and lead a happy life, but some people are not that much lucky.
Many people fail to realize how much blessed they are to have a complete body and a sound mind. Many people just overlook the fact that they are able to open their eyes every day in full healthy state and perform their tasks without any physical or mental barrier. Such people fail to realize that it is very tough, even impossible, for some people even to pass a single day. These people happen to be suffering from certain disabilities. Disability refers to any physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses or activities. Disabled people can also be known to be handicapped and remain restricted due to their physical or mental hindrances.
It has been a topic of debate since a long time that whether disables people should be allowed to live or not. To be more precise, scientists and researchers have long argued on the topic that whether the birth of individuals with disabilities be allowed or not; Whether the handicapped people should be allowed to live with their disabilities and all their problems or should these people be finished in the early stages of their lives. Another dimension of debate arises here in the form of abortion.
Many scientists argue that disabled people should be aborted as a fetus in the very begging of their life stages in the form of abortion. Abortion refers to the deliberate termination of human fetus ring the early stages of pregnancy. It is mostly performed during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. It is a hot topic of debate that whether disabled people should be aborted during the pregnancy or not. Two of the notable contributions in this respect have been presented by Leon Richard Kass in the book “Bioethics: Principles, Issues and Cases” and another by Jeff McMahan which carries the title of "The Morality of Screening for Disability." Both the researchers have presented their views in the light of their observations and studies and keeping in mind the current practices going in in the recent times.
Discussion
Leon Kass, in his essay argues that it is totally irrational to abort he fetus whether it has been diagnosed with a disability or not. He takes the help of morality to elaborate his arguments. Kass presents his views that every human being has the right to life no matter how small they are or at what stage of their life they are. In his opinion, aborting a fetus is like killing an entire human being and it is completely immoral; it is like you are choosing a particular race not to come in this world and eradicating it completely CITATION Kas16 \l 1033 (Kass, July, 2016).
Jeff McMahan, on the other hand, presents another view of the story. He explains that if a baby or fetus is diagnosed with some sort of disability and the medical practitioner knows that the medical science would not be able to cure it, it should be aborted. McMahan is of the view that it does not create any moral obligations or it is not a matter of such a big issue that an individual with a disability is stopped from coming into this world. In his opinion, if a person with a disability is born, it would be tough for him or her to carry on even their daily activities which would make their life a living hell; therefore there should be no ethical, legal or moral obligations to abort a fetus with certain physical or mental disabilities. (McMahan, July, 2016)
There is a lot of difference in the pieces of writings provided by both the writers. Although both are on the same topic "Abortion and Disability," both provide a different point of view. One author considers the act of abortion as an immoral activity, even a sin, whereas the other author tries to prove that it is not a big deal to abort a child, especially if its parents do not want to keep it.
I have gone through both these essays; both have been written excellently clarifying each author’s arguments with unambiguous examples and explanation. Both these articles have broadened my view and helped me out in shaping my opinion regarding the topic. In my view, no person has the right to kill a fetus while it’s still in the womb or even after that; it is completely immoral and unethical. If nature wants to bring a soul into this world, we, humans should not intervene in it and let nature do its job.
Conclusion
Shortly, I agree with the opinion presented by Leon Kass, that every individual has complete right to live, whether disabled or not, and it is completely immoral to decide the future of a person when is still in his mother’s womb.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 Kass, L. R. (July, 2016). In L. Vaughn, Bioethics; Principals, Issues and Cases (pp. 560- 564). Oxford University Press.
BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033 McMahan, J.. (July, 2016). The Morality of Screening for Disability,. In L. Vaughn, Bioethics; Principals, Issues and Cases (pp. 571-574). Oxford University Press.
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