Journal of Clinical Research & Bioethics

Abstract

Abortion from a Bioethical Viewpoint: Autonomy and Beneficency versus Justice?

Francisco Javier León Correa

In this reflection on abortion, we will analyze from the bioethics viewpoint the concept of autonomy; in accordance with the liberal individual model and personal ambitions to be applied to the woman’s and the doctor’s decision making and the society in general. Now that the abortion liberalization is being proposed in Spain through a law that intends to substitute the decriminalization of certain assumptions that have been in effect since 1985, it is necessary to analyze in deep the ethical aspects beyond the legal and social approaches. Bioethics and Law must join together, since both have the same aim: the promotion of human life respect and its basic rights; safeguard –as long as possible -, the values within an interpersonal relationship that lead to fulfill a woman’s life having an unwanted pregnancy, as well as that of the fetus and the doctor; and always trying to protect the rights of those who are the weakest: the woman and the fetus, without disregarding everyone’s duties with them.