Reference no: EM133508278

Question

Clare Macwurter was twenty-two years old chronologically, but mentally she remained a child. As a result of her mother"s prolonged and difficult labor, Clare had been deprived of an adequate blood-oxygen supply during her birth. The consequence was that she suffered irreversible brain damage. Clare enjoyed life and was generally a happy person. She couldn"t read, but she liked listening to music and watching television, although she could rarely understand the stories. She was physically attractive and, with the hep of her parents, she could care for herself. Clare was also interested in sex. When she was seventeen, she and a fellow student at the special school they attended had been caught having intercourse. Clare"s parents had been told about the incident, but after Clare left the school the following year, they took no special precaution to ensure that Clare would not become sexually involved with anyone. After all, she stayed at home with her mother every day, and, besides, it was a matter they didn"t much like to think about. The Macwurters were both surprised and upset when Clare became pregnant. At first they couldn"t imagine how it could have happened. They recalled that on several occasions Clare had been sent to stay at the house of Mr. Macwurter"s brother admitted that he had had sexual relations with Clare. "I wasn"t wholly to blame," John Macwurter said. "I mean, I know I shouldn"t have done it. But still, she was interested in it too. The Macwurters were at a loss about what they should do. The physician they consulted told them that Clare would probably have a perfectly normal baby. But of course Clare couldn"t really take care of herself, much less a baby. She was simply unfit to be a mother. Mrs. Macwurter, for her part, was not eager to assume the additional responsibilities of caring for another child. Mr. Macwurter would be eligible to retire in four more years and the couple had been looking forward to selling their house and moving back to the small town in Oklahoma where thy had first meet and then married. The money they had managed to save, plus insurance and a sale of their property, would permit them to place Clare in a long-term care facility after their deaths. Being responsible for another child would both ruin their plans and jeopardize Clare"s future well-being. "I never though I would say such a thing," Mrs. Macwurter told her husband, "but I think we should arrange for Clare to have an abortion." "That"s killing," Mr. Macwurter said. "I"m not so sure it is. I don"t really know. But even if it is, I think it"s the best thing to do." Mrs. Macwurter made the arrangements with Clare"s physician for an abortion to be performed. When Mr. Macwurter asked his brother to pay for the operation, John Macwurter refused. He explained that he was opposed to abortion and so it would not be right for him to provide money to be used in that way. Clare Macwurter is 22 years old but has the mental capacity and maturity of a small child. She is pregnant. She had sex with an uncle. Although she is likely to have a perfectly normal child she is incapabale of caring for that child. Her parents are contemplating having Clare undergo an abortion. Would that be morally correct? this question has to be answered with the principle of Kantian rule.