Oral+Presentation+Case+5

= Oral Presentation Case 5 =

//A young woman purchases a home pregnancy testing kit from your pharmacy. She returns an hour later and asks you to have a look at the result, as she is too distraught to check, and tells you that she will have an abortion if she is pregnant. What ethical issues are raised by this situation? Explore how you will deal with this.//




- Mother: values may include stability as she has plans for her career or education, carefree life, financial means; little money to support the child, health; if she is epileptic and this will put her life at risk, perfection; fetus might be genetically damaged, avoiding embarrassment, or simply believe her individual rights need to be upheld.  - Foetus: values should also be accommodated for such as to receive undivided attention, to be loved and most importantly wanted, cared for and receive full devotion, and the right to grow in a safe and loving environment. - Father: might value the same things that the young woman values or he might value commitment, family ties, responsibility or fatherhood.  - Family of mother: values which may include avoiding embarrassment, concern for the young woman’s life and future or they may value ancestry hence looking forward for a grandchild.


 ** Example  ** A woman asks me (a pharmacist) who does not agree abortion to check the pregnancy result and she tells me that will have abortion if she is pregnant. In this situation, I am left with an ethical issue that whether I should withhold the truth if she is pregnant due to my personal belief.

In this case, I assume that the test result shows that she is pregnant and I do not agree abortion.

To establish my position, I will use an ethical framework of rights and duties. Rights have to be given or claimed. When we are given certain rights, we are obligated to ensure those rights are honoured and exercised. Similarly, we have certain duties to others. If we are ethical people, we have to act those duties. If two or more rights and/or duties are in conflict, we have to prioritize them. In addition, different stakeholders hold different values, such as money, health outcome and friendship. Thus, rights and duties and values of each stakeholder should be considered.

The main stakeholder is the young woman. She may value autonomy and freedom. She also has rights to be pregnant or terminate the pregnancy (abortion) and know the truth from the pharmacist. Her family and partner also have rights to know the truth and have duties to give enough care and support to her if she is pregnant.

In pharmacists’ perspective, I have duties to adhere the codes of professional conduct. Firstly, it clearly states that I should provide accurate, truthful and complete information and service to clients. Secondly, I have to refer her to another pharmacy or ask another pharmacist to help her if there is a conflict between my personal belief and client’s choice. Thirdly, I should be honest and respect patients’ rights and choices. If I lie to her because of my personal belief, this would violate all **of** my values and duties. Also, I value a potential human life, so I do not agree abortion.

In term**s** of embryo, I claim that it has rights to live and exist in the world. If the young woman knows the truth then she will have abortion. This would mean that she deprives the embryo’s rights and is against my value as well.

Based on rights and duties, the rights of the young woman and the embryo are in conflict. The young woman has rights to know the truth and have abortion while embryo has rights to live. In my opinion, the rights of the young woman outweigh the rights of embryo. It is because the young woman is a person but embryo is not a personhood. Also, as a pharmacist, I should not withhold the truth because of my personal belief as this would violate my professional duties. I strongly believe that it is unethical if I withhold the truth to the patient.