Moral Dilemma #11 - Abort or die?
 

Just thought this one up myself...

Scenario: You are heavily pregnant and the foetus is now at a stage where if you unexpectedly went into labour, it would have a chance of survival, but it's touch and go. You go into labour unexpectedly and due to complications are told that either you abort the child to save your own life or you give birth now and will die during the birth, but the child has a fighting chance at survival. What do you do?

Edit: You have a partner who will be able to care for the child.

Edit two, thanks Vicky: You do not have any children, this is your first child - aborting it will ruin your chances of ever getting pregnant again.

Give birth, especially if I was heavily pregnant.

Abort the child I think

Abort. I don't think I'd have enough of a connection with an unborn baby to lose my life for him/her.

This depends on a few things. Do you already have children that you would leave behind?

Will aborting affect your chances of getting pregnant again?

I think I would abort. The child is not guaranteed to survive anyway...imagine how your partner would be losing you AND your child :S

For me it would definitely depend on how pregnant I was, you said heavily which is why I said give birth. If It's actually a proper baby that could survive on it's own, that I'd carried for months and felt kick, then no way would I abort it.

I've edited the OP after reading Vicky's response, the two questions you posed were both very good but I couldn't include both as part of the scenario in a way that kept it as a difficult dilemma.

I agree with Niamh.

If I were heavily pregnant I wouldn't give an abortion. But if I weren't then I would think about it.

The thing is, is that you can resort to adoption if you have too.

I guess the motherly sort of attachment would be there by the time you're heavily pregnant... so if I was in that situation I think I'd give birth. I'd want the kid to have a life.

I don't feel comfortable answering this as a man.

That's understandable.. perhaps instead imagine you're the husband in this situation, what would you rather? Your wife made the ultimate sacrifice or lose your only chance at having a child with this woman that you love?

Abort.

I am leaving behind more people by letting myself die than the baby would be.

I don't think coming into the world as a newborn baby under those circumstances would be a good thing.

Yeah that's true, the mother would mean more to a lot more people than the baby would

Another thing to think about is that the abortion will, obviously, have an impact upon your relationship. It may cause your relationship to disintegrate, even, if either partner starts putting blame on the other in some way. On the other hand, a child will grow up without a mother - whereas the parents could, as someone said, adopt a child who doesn't have any parents. But then they don't get to have their own child and risk having a very fractured relationship.

O I've been thinking about this. While Greg's previous point about the relationship falling apart is a good point, if that didn't happen we could still adopt and also as someone else said I'd be leaving behind too many people unlike the baby. As a husband, without the special bond between Mum and baby I'd want the baby to be aborted for sure.

..yeah, yeah...it's a nightmare already Zee, don't keep piling it on...lol

I would abort, well I think it would more than likely be the husband who would have to choose...the wife is already a wife, possibly sister, daughter, friend. They couldn't be sure the baby would die unless it was already dead, in which case, no decision to be made and there's a possibility they could both live.

Well if you ARE going to die then obviously abort. Its still only a potential person and adoption is always a possibility.

Abort

I would never choose to abort if the baby was viable - that's just my personal feeling. I could never have an abortion under any circumstances, but I totally respect the right of any woman to make her own choice.

Abort. Abort. Abort.

I'd probably abort.

It's a fully formed baby though, if it's able to survive on it's own which makes it an actual person in my eyes. There's no way I could do it at that stage

But you would die and the baby has no memories or experience?

neither does a baby who's delivered and is a minute old but I wouldn't kill them to save myself either...........imo.

Fair point but I know for sure I dont feel like Ive achieved enough in life to give it up for a baby that hasnt been born and could still die.