Ethical Discussion Paper: Informed Consent and AbortionInformed consent is an important issue to help professions. It allows the professional (doctor, therapist, teacher, etc.) to share relevant information with a patient or client and give them the opportunity to make informed decisions on behalf of their life and health. Its overall goal is to keep things in an open perspective for the client and allow them to see all sides, good and bad. When it comes to abortion procedures, informed consent has become a debated issue. Whether it is educational requirements or parental consent for minors, ethics plays a role in determining what action should be taken in this area. The topic of abortion has been controversial for many years and is continually challenged in government proceedings. Policies related to abortion are presented and handled with care, due to the moral and ethical issues that often surround the procedure. To better understand the serious problem of abortion, it is important to know what abortion procedures involve. Abortion is defined as “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus.” It can be classified into: spontaneous expulsion of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation, or induced expulsion of a human fetus” (Abortion, nd). In the most controversial cases of abortion, it is generally a voluntary termination of pregnancy or an induced abortion. Induced abortions are usually performed due to an unwanted or unwanted pregnancy. Abortion may be motivated by the fact that the family cannot financially care for a child or by stigma due to the age of the pregnant woman (i.e. teenage mothers). An induction...... middle of paper ......Trauma. Notre Dame L. Rev., 71, 639. Gold, R.B. and Nash, E. (2007). National abortion counseling policies and basic principles of informed consent. Guttmacher Policy Review, 10(4), 6-13. Henshaw, Saskatchewan (1995). The impact of parental consent requirements on minor abortions in Mississippi. Family Planning Perspectives, 27(3). Silverstein, H. and Speitel, L. (2002). Honey, I have no idea: The court is prepared to entertain motions to waive parental consent to abortion. Iowa L. Rev., 88, 75. Spear, H. J. (2004). Concerning abortion: informed consent or selective disclosure? In Nursing Forum (Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 31-32). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Wenger, A. A. (2006). Legislation on fetal pain. Journal of Legal Medicine, 27(4), 459-476. Women's Right to Know Act. (nd). North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. Accessed April 10, 2014 from http://wrtk.ncdhhs.gov/