Term Paper on Religious Views about
Ill Newborn Babies
New
advances in medical knowledge and technology have created new treatment options
for both patients and health care givers. Doctors are increasingly being
confronted with challenges especially in the criteria by which they can make
good clinical judgment. These judgments are often fraught with ethical dilemmas
for medical personnel who are required to make decisions in the "best interest"
of their patients whose wishes may not always be rational or even known. These
decisions which are influenced by the doctor's own values, should always be
based on ethically acceptable principles. Ethical dilemmas in medical practice
nowadays are, however, not only limited to direct patient care. The advent of
managed healthcare and medical entrepreneurial endeavors, have raised ethical
questions for which there are no easy answers.
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Before the turn of the century, most babies were born in the home, and the fate
of a number of babies was dismal. During the first half of this century, it
became evident that hospital deliveries reduced the toll of complications of
birth for women. However, a low survival rate for premature or low-birth weight
babies remained, due to a lack of ability to manage respiratory distress. There
are many children even today which face severe conditions after birth. The
parents of these children are often faced with difficult challenges, financial
distress and lingering uncertainty about their children's future.
Children are important for every faith, religion and culture and there are mixed
views available concerning the fate of the ill newborn. If they were not cared
for a life would be lost. The religions round the world offer different views
considering the conditions of the newborn but all lead to the same fact that the
sufferings of the baby should be reduced. In Christianity, the suffering of the
ill should be reduced that is the child should be best cared for under all the
circumstances. However, there are separate views found amongst the conservative
and the liberals. The conservatives strictly follow the Christian law as it is
and believe that the newborn is the responsibility of the parents and should be
cared for. The concept of ending the pain of the baby has also emerged in the
past years. Many have strongly started believing the fact that the life should
be ended if it is causing pain but this practice has gained enough criticisms as
well for it being an interruption in the way God works and God is the Supreme
Law.
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In Islam, it is strictly forbidden for the humans to decide the fate of the
newly born even when conditions are worse. Here, God is the Authority and
without His approval a life cannot be taken away. The fate of the newborns is to
be decided by God Himself but families and parents are to care for the babies,
as they are a human life too. Islamic views take the pain of the baby under
consideration but all the people can do is to pray and make the best use of
their resources to make the child feel better. The fate that is what is to be
done about the baby is a decision taken by God with which none can interfere.
God has sent the newborns and would they care for. So, in all Islamic countries
and the Muslim people the concept of ending a life brutally called Euthanasia is
rare because Muslims believe that whatever happens, happens for the betterment
of the human race and they have no right to interfere with Nature and its
actions. Most of the religions that date back to the history of the world offer
the view that the pain should be reduced. In the Jewish faith, the newborn
should go through the minimum of pain.
Newborns are fragile creatures and need to be handled with great care. Ill
newborns should be treated with utmost responsibility and care like in many
cases the babies remain in their incubators for long times. Jews also believe in
reducing the pain but taking away a life is still a dilemma facing the people
because no one cane easily interfere with God and what He does for the people.
All round the globe the concept of reduction in pain and thus ending a life has
generated a controversial debate.
Another major religion of the world, Hinduism has a number of classes that have
diverse beliefs about certain things. Most of Hindu populations face the 'class'
problem that is there are separate classes to which people belong like the most
rich and powerful ones and then the mediocre ones and so on. The lowest class is
not treated with much respect. This cast system has formed the basis of Hindu
beliefs for the past years but today the intensity of such feelings has thinned.
Considering the newborns, the fate is decided by their various Gods and what
they feel is right. The fate of the newborn is to be handled by their Gods. Pain
is a universal language that can be understood by its vocal sounds, facial
expressions, body movements, respiration, color, and even its crashing
metabolism. Babies speak this language as well as anyone. We should listen
seriously and react appropriately. But the fate is not in our hands and is not
decided by us ever.
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