A Moral Dilemma: I Don’t Want It
by “I Don’t want it” is a doctor’s dilemma that was published in the Commonweal magazine’s October 2008 issue. It offers a first person view of a moral dilemma faced by a medical professional as she is confronted by a young teen with STDs and a unwanted pregnancy. The article does an excellent job outlining the various ethical, moral and religious issues and decisions out health care workers are faced with. This article simply explains those decisions in light of certain moral principles.
The article published in the Commonweal magazine on October 24th 2008 titled “I Don’t Want It” tells the story of a young girl who became pregnant with her second child and she has contracted STDs due to her liberal sexual preferences. The Doctor she visited for advice and examination writes the article for the magazine and offers her inmost feelings that she experienced during the conversation.
From the first person point of view presented in the article, it is easy to deduce that the doctor is a Christian, if not a Catholic, whose faith and traditional beliefs are challenged as her faith and her professional duty are in conflict with each other. Obliviously the doctor was frustrated that a patient with a request for STD tests and pregnancy issues showed up at her office just as she was getting ready to go home. But as the events unfold and the doctor sees the young girl, her attitude changes from a sense of frustration to disbelief and then eventually to a loving understanding of the girl’s situation.
The doctor is right to be a strong advocate of the intrinsic dignity and value of human life, not only with regards to the fetus, but also with respect to the seriously ill, the impaired and the marginalized – and in this case, this poor girl who has STDs and want abortion. However, the doctor never expresses what she believes in to the patient and really does not take the effort to counsel the patient on her actions and her desire for an abortion. She simply does the tests and comments on the patient’s situations within her own mind but never tells the patient and she does not push the girl to take alternative choice other than abortion. Even the mother is conflicted over what is the right decision to make since she is poor and her family cannot afford another baby.
So as their professional doctor, she should have encouraged the girl to have the baby and then give the baby up for adoption. The doctor should also have referred the patient to a group that took care of babies and their mother (especially the poverty stricken young girls who become mothers) and offered them health advice and a caring environment – instead of an ob-gyn clinic or an abortion clinic where the doctor knows the patient will kill the baby. Human dignity should always be valued and preserving the life of the baby is important as it falls within the Christian framework and is an issue of human dignity, justice and caring for the marginalized.
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Post CommentKaren Gross
On December 11, 2008 at 12:34 pm
I really feel for doctors who are increasingly being ordered to leave their conscience out of their practice. They have no options but to quit or ignore their own beliefs. I thought we were supposed to be a tolerant culture!
Virginia Wolfe
On December 16, 2008 at 5:49 am
not that i disagree with the thought that the doctor should have done more for this girl, but i do think that doctors just do as their told these days, wouldnt want to have a scandal or get sewed. it is a sad world we live in.
Hari678
On April 21, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Article is good as it stimulates the sense of feelings. But one should take sufficient time to come to a correct decision apart from the discussion with a Doctor.
Hari678
On April 21, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Article is good as it stimulates the sense of feelings. But one should take sufficient time to come to a correct decision apart from the discussion with a Doctor.