How do Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism apply to abortion and euthanasia, and what do the issues turn on?
Issues in medical ethics: the sanctity and quality of life, personhood and viability, abortion, euthanasia and the right to die, and the application of Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism to these issues.
A CCEA AS 7 guide to issues in medical ethics. Covers the sanctity and quality of life debate, personhood and viability, abortion and euthanasia, and how Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism are applied to each issue, with the arguments these theories generate.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
You need to explain the key issues in medical ethics, the contrast between the sanctity of life and the quality of life, the questions of personhood and viability, and the issues of abortion and euthanasia, and then apply Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism to them. This is the applied half of AS 7: the theories are tested against real cases, and questions ask how a named theory handles a named issue.
Sanctity of life and quality of life
This contrast frames almost every medical ethics question: absolutists defend sanctity of life; consequentialists and situationists weigh quality of life.
Personhood and viability
Abortion: applying the theories
Abortion tests each theory.
- Natural Moral Law. The precept to preserve life and the secondary rule against killing make direct abortion wrong. The doctrine of double effect can permit a treatment intended to save the mother (for example in an ectopic pregnancy) even though it foreseeably ends the pregnancy, because the death is not intended or the means.
- Situation Ethics. There is no fixed rule; the agent asks what agape requires for the woman, the foetus and others involved, so abortion may be the loving choice in some circumstances and not in others.
- Utilitarianism. Weigh the consequences for happiness and suffering of all affected. An act utilitarian might support abortion where it prevents greater suffering; the difficulty is assessing the foetus's interests and predicting outcomes.
Euthanasia and the right to die
Applied to euthanasia: Natural Moral Law opposes deliberately ending life but can accept withdrawing futile treatment and giving pain relief with a double effect; Situation Ethics asks what agape requires for the suffering person and could permit it; Utilitarianism weighs the suffering relieved against harms such as pressure on the vulnerable and the erosion of trust, so views differ within the theory.
Evaluating sanctity against quality of life
A model evaluation paragraph might run: "The sanctity of life principle has the great merit of protecting the most vulnerable absolutely: by treating every human life as intrinsically sacred, it resists any calculation that would trade one life for another's convenience and guards against devaluing the disabled, the elderly or the dying. Yet a rigid sanctity principle can be cruel, insisting that a person endure untreatable suffering simply because life must never be ended; here quality-of-life reasoning, shared by utilitarian and situationist approaches, seems more humane. The judgement, therefore, is that the sanctity of life rightly carries great weight as a safeguard, but cannot reasonably be applied without regard to the actual suffering of the person, so quality of life considerations must also be weighed."
Try this
Q1. Distinguish the sanctity of life from the quality of life. [2 marks]
- Cue. Sanctity of life treats life as intrinsically sacred and inviolable; quality of life makes its value depend on the person's condition and capacities.
Q2. Explain how Utilitarianism would approach voluntary euthanasia. [6 marks]
- Cue. Weigh the suffering relieved for the patient against wider consequences such as pressure on the vulnerable and loss of trust; the verdict depends on the balance of happiness over suffering for all affected.
Q3. "Situation Ethics is the best approach to medical ethics." Discuss. [12 marks]
- Cue. Weigh its flexibility and compassion in hard cases against the uncertainty of agape and consequences, and compare it with the clarity of Natural Moral Law and the impartiality of Utilitarianism. Reach a judgement.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA AS 7 201912 marksExplain how Natural Moral Law and Situation Ethics would each approach abortion.Show worked answer →
An AO1 application question, so reward accurate use of each theory on the
issue rather than a general account of abortion.
Natural Moral Law. The primary precept to preserve life and the secondary
precept against killing make direct abortion wrong; the doctrine of double
effect may permit a procedure that saves the mother's life and only
foreseeably ends the pregnancy, as in an ectopic case.
Situation Ethics. There is no fixed rule; the agent asks what agape, the
most loving outcome for the persons involved, requires in the particular
circumstances, so abortion could be the loving choice in some cases and not
in others.
A strong answer keeps the two theories distinct and applies each precisely
to abortion. Accurate application reaches the top band.
CCEA AS 7 202212 marksComment on the view that the sanctity of life should always override the quality of life in medical ethics.Show worked answer →
An AO2 evaluation question, so argue both sides and judge.
Supporting the claim. The sanctity of life principle holds that life is
God-given, made in God's image and intrinsically valuable, so it must never
be deliberately ended; this protects the vulnerable absolutely.
Challenging the claim. A quality of life view, and utilitarian or
situationist reasoning, hold that unbearable suffering or the loss of
meaningful life can outweigh mere biological survival, so the sanctity
principle can be cruel in extreme cases.
A judgement that sanctity of life offers vital protection but that a rigid
application can ignore real suffering, so quality of life considerations
have weight, reaches the higher bands.
Related dot points
- Natural Moral Law: the foundations in Aristotle and Aquinas, the primary and secondary precepts, the four tiers of law, real and apparent goods, the doctrine of double effect, and strengths and weaknesses of the theory.
A CCEA AS 7 guide to Natural Moral Law. Covers the roots in Aristotle and Aquinas, the five primary precepts and the secondary precepts derived from them, the four tiers of law, real and apparent goods, the doctrine of double effect, and the main strengths and weaknesses of the theory.
- Situation Ethics: Fletcher's agape principle, the four working principles, the six fundamental principles, the rejection of legalism and antinomianism, and strengths and weaknesses of the theory.
A CCEA AS 7 guide to Situation Ethics. Covers Joseph Fletcher's agape principle, the four working principles and the six fundamental principles, the middle way between legalism and antinomianism, the place of conscience, and the main strengths and weaknesses of the theory.
- Utilitarianism: Bentham's act utilitarianism and the hedonic calculus, Mill's qualitative higher and lower pleasures and rule utilitarianism, the greatest happiness principle, and strengths and weaknesses of the theory.
A CCEA AS 7 guide to Utilitarianism. Covers Bentham's act utilitarianism and the hedonic calculus, Mill's distinction between higher and lower pleasures and his rule utilitarianism, the greatest happiness principle, the act and rule versions, and the main strengths and weaknesses of the theory.
- The relationship between religion and morality: divine command theory, the Euthyphro dilemma, the autonomy and heteronomy of ethics, conscience, and whether morality depends on God.
A CCEA AS 7 guide to the relationship between religion and morality. Covers divine command theory, the Euthyphro dilemma, the autonomy and heteronomy of ethics, the role of conscience, and the debate over whether morality depends on God or can stand independently of religion.
Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Religious Studies (2016) specification — CCEA (2016)