Good Essay About Ethical And Social Justice Issues

Introduction

The world is filled with ethical and social justice issues due to its complexity. It is important to research and understand the issues caused by social justice and ethics. Ethical challenges arise due to the developments in the world. These developments include increase in human population; new technologies; dynamic business environments; changes in climate; changes in the nature of war; international migration; global financial crisis; and genetic engineering. These factors challenge the ethical standards held by humans.
Social justice tries to create a balance between the challenges faced by humans and their ambitions in life. Social justice stresses on equality in the society. The people in the society are supposed to carry out their responsibilities in the society without interfering with the roles of the other people. Social justice looks at the rights of people and ensures that each person is able to exercise their rights.
Ethics and social justice has led to some major issues in the society. These issues include capital punishment; just war; stem cell research; national health care; abortion; birth control; and assisted suicide. These are major issues that have been the subjects of intense debates all over the world. Religion is against some of these issues and this has spurred debates on whether it is right to practice some of these issues.

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment involves punishing a person by death. Death penalties have been around for a very long time. In the past, people were executed by hanging or having their heads chopped off (Robinson, 2013). Many countries are now abandoning the death penalty and opting for life imprisonment. A majority of the countries have done away with the capital punishment, but a few countries are still practicing this form of punishment.
People argue that punishing a wrong by committing another wrong does not make things right (Robinson, 2013). The death penalty is seen as a wrong committed against the criminal. People arguing for the abolition of the death penalty say that a person can be made better if he is given a life imprisonment sentence. The life imprisonment sentence acts as a way of rehabilitating a person from his bad behavior.
There are cases where innocent people are given the death penalty. People charged with murder are usually subjected to court trials that determine whether they are guilty. An inexperienced lawyer can lose a case against a person accused of murder. Some people have been found innocent after being given the death sentence. Elimination of the capital punishment can prevent the execution of innocent people.

Just War

Just wars are defined as those wars that are carried out to satisfy a just cause. Just wars have to be authorized by lawful authorities (BBC, 2014). Just wars should be intended for the good of many people and should only be carried out if other ways of providing solutions to the problem have failed. Countries engage in just wars only when they know that there is a great possibility of achieving success.
People who are against just wars say that it is an immoral conduct (BBC, 2014). They argue that the use of just wars is unethical and should not be practiced at all. People categorize all kind of wars as being unjust. Wars are considered immoral because they promote violence. Violence is a bad thing and people are supposed to discourage all kinds of war. Just wars are said be a deliberate way of promoting violence.
Morality has no place in just wars because despite any argument to justify the action, violence will still take place. All wars are composed of strong teams and weak teams. The strong people act according to their will while the weak fight so as to protect themselves (BBC, 2014). The winners of wars are usually the sides that are the stronger. Therefore, ethics are not elements of war. The world today engages in just wars due to the increase in the number of terrorist attacks. Terrorists are not guided by any morals or ethics, and so the countries that use just wars defend themselves by saying that they are only looking out for the welfare of its citizens.

Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research has raised plenty of debates concerning ethics and social justice. The controversy surrounds the usage of research on embryonic stem cells. The society is against the use of research in developing, using, and destroying human embryos (NIH, 2015). People are only against research on embryonic stem cells. Stem cell research on human embryos is considered morally unethical. The intention behind the research is to find out if a stem cell can provide cure to large numbers of people.
There are debates on the kind of restrictions that should be enforced so as to ensure that the scientists do not destroy life. The government officials are holding debates on the funds and regulations that are required to ensure that proper techniques are used in stem cell research (NIH, 2015). The supporters of the stem cell research focus on the benefits that this kind of research will bring to humans. Some of the treatments that are likely to be made possible through this research include treatment for genetic diseases; physical trauma; and degenerative conditions (NIH, 2015).

National Health Care

The national health care in the US has become a major social issue. The health care system is said to lead to a loss of patients due to accidents, infections, and errors in hospitals. It is said that about 500 people die every day due to poor health care systems (Binder, 2013). There is also a very high mortality rate that is associated with the poor health care system. Other people are said to suffer from medical procedures that were not necessary. People are losing patience with the slow pace of bringing change to the health care system.
There are arguments that the health care system provides too much care that is unnecessary. There is the issue of people choosing to have early deliveries. There is also the issue of patients sustaining harm during their stay at hospitals. It is estimated that in every four people who are admitted in hospitals, one of them gets harmed during his admission period (Binder, 2013). The children who are born early have an increased chance of dying compared to the other babies.
A lot of money is said to be wasted on the health care system because most of these costs are unnecessary. The people who go for elective early delivery incur higher costs and they put the lives of their babies in danger. Medicaid, Medicare, and health plans pay service providers for the services without following up to see whether the patient received quality services (Binder, 2013). The health care system also suffers from a lack of transparency. Many people do not know about the dangers of elective early deliveries. Some hospitals are known to encourage people to go for early deliveries. It is unethical to encourage people to go for elective early deliveries considering the dangers involved.

Abortion

Abortion is an issue that has faced plenty of criticism from the public and politicians. Some people feel that abortion should be legalized while others are others say that the government should put major restrictions to prevent abortion. The society looks at abortion with the concept of the destruction of life. The issue of abortion is analyzed based on the legal rights of the fetus. People argue concerning the stage during which the fetus can benefit from human rights. Another issue that is brought up regards the rights of the fetus versus the rights of the woman carrying the fetus (Dionisio et al., 2006).
Abortion presents an ethical issue that is hard to determine based on the different viewpoints held by people. The moral standards associated with abortion have changed with time (Dionisio et al., 2006). People define abortion based on different perspectives. Abortion is seen as the termination of a pregnancy. There are times when the doctor may recommend it if the mother is at danger of losing her life. Some people argue that the fetus has the right to life and that the doctors should try their best to save both the mother and the baby.

Birth Control

The use of birth control is an issue that has faced much criticism especially from churches. The twentieth century saw many people start using birth control so as to avoid getting pregnant. Many Christians have come to accept birth control and see it as a morally acceptable way of preventing unwanted pregnancies (Feinberg, 2012). Earlier generations that did not use birth control gave bore many children and led to a rapid growth in population. The modern day people have identified the use of contraceptives as a way of controlling the number of children they produce. Birth control also enables people to live a good lifestyle because they are not burdened with many children.
The people in the society have also changed their attitudes towards premarital sex (Feinberg, 2012). The change of attitude has increased the risk of teenage pregnancies. Birth control has been identified as a means towards preventing teenage pregnancies. The use of birth control has led to the decline in the number of teenagers who get pregnant. Birth control also enables career women to focus on their careers by delaying to bear children.

Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide is when a patient requests a physician to assist him to die. Patients who choose to die are usually those who are terminally ill and experience a lot of pain. The states of Oregon and Washington have added laws that allow patients to ask their physicians to assist them to die (Ball, 2012). The term used for this kind of death is Physician Assisted Death (PAD). The law specifies that the patient should have competent mind and should not be under any state of depression. The patient is allowed to ask his physician to provide him with a prescription that would end his life when he ingests the medicine.
Assisted suicide is an issue that has spurred a lot of debates concerning this conduct. Patients prefer to have an early death instead of going through a lot of suffering. People are slowly coming to accept this issue. However, there are many people who are against assisted suicide. The groups of protesters against assisted suicide include scientists, philosophers, politicians, pressure groups, lobbyists, nurses, doctors, and the clergy (Ball, 2012). These groups argue that there should be limitations of the extent to which people should have control over their own individual autonomy.

Conclusion

Many ethical and social justice issues have arisen due to the changes that are occurring in the society. These changes include technological development; climatic changes; increase in population; financial crises; genetic engineering, changes in the nature of wars; and international migrations. Some of the ethical and social justice issues that have arisen due to these new challenges include stem cell research; use of birth control; abortion; assisted suicide; just wars; capital punishment; and national health care systems. These issues have received a lot of criticisms from different people in the society. Some of these issues are slowly being embraced by the society while others call for improvement.

Works Cited

Robinson Bruce. Capital Punishment: All Viewpoints on the Death Penalty. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. http://www.religioustolerance.org/execute.htm
BBC. Against the Theory of the Just War. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/war/just/against.shtml
NIH. Stem Cell Information. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/pages/basics1.aspx
Binder Leah. The Five Biggest Problems in Health Care Today. 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. http://www.forbes.com/sites/leahbinder/2013/02/21/the-five-biggest-problems-in-health-care-today/
Dionisio Lisa, Cara Evans, Pete O’Connell, Anna Varshisky and William Walter. A Political, Public & Moral Look at Abortion. 28 Feb. 2006. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jackson/social.issues/papers/AbortGrI.html
Feinberg Paul. The Ethics of Birth Control. 8 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. https://www.crossway.org/blog/2012/02/the-ethics-of-birth-control-part-1-4-concerns-that-increase-birth-control-use/
Ball Howard. Physician Assisted Death in America: Ethics, Law and Policy Conflicts. 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2015. http://www.cato-unbound.org/2012/12/10/howard-ball/physician-assisted-death-america-ethics-law-policy-conflicts