Introduction
This research paper will discuss the rights of a fetus hasduring each month of the prenatal period and all its rights as expected from the parents, caregivers, and other people involved in its care. Lastly, the paper will end by discussing whether the fetus should have rights during the prenatal period, which basically takes about nine months and where there are three stages, which include the germinal, embryonic, and fetal period (Santrock, 2012).
The Rights of Fetus
The theories of human rights have taken ages to advance, and philosophers argue that all humans are awarded certain unalienable rights by their maker, which begins when people are conceived and end when they die. There are three trimesters of prenatal development of a fetus, and during each, the fetus has various rights. The first trimester is most critical in the development of the fetus, however, at this perion, the fetus acquires the most fundamental right, the right to live, which is the most elementary of all these and indicates that all fetuses should live and not be aborted regardless of their parents’ situation or the fetus’ congenital condition (Executive Board of the Finnish Medical Association, 2007).
The other right in the first trimester considers the right to healthy development, which will also be practiced in the other two trimesters. Pregnant women should avoid exposure of the fetus to environments that are risky to its normal development, and ensure that they go to routine checkups and avoid using drugs, especially without doctors’ prescriptions. Mothers should lead a healthy lifestyle and avoid drug abuse such as smoking and consuming alcoholic substances and take all necessary supplements needed during fetus development. During pregnancy, the mother needs regular checkups to exclude and make sure diseases, and other risks are avoided (Executive Board of the Finnish Medical Association, 2007).
In the second trimester, consisting of the fourth and the sixth month, the fetus has rights of the first trimester and others, such as the right to being born wanted. They have the right to have parents and to be born into an environment that accepts them socially, therefore people should try to avoid unwanted pregnancies as much as possible. All fetuses should also be wanted regardless of their health conditions and deformities (Executive Board of the Finnish Medical Association, 2007).
In the last trimester, consisting of the last three months, fetuses have the right to safe delivery among all other rights discussed in the first two trimesters.
Doctors should search for all risk factors that might threaten the safe delivery of the fetus. It is advisable that parents should seek relevant counseling to educate them on safe nursing needed to care for the baby (Executive Board of the Finnish Medical Association, 2007).
Conclusion
In conclusion, a fetus has rights during each month of the prenatal period, as philosophers argue, human beings, as awarded by their Maker, have certain unalienable rights (Executive Board of the Finnish Medical Association, 2007). Since the whole development period basically takes about nine months (Santrock, 2012), the natural environment has a direct influence on the fetus, thus it deserves certain rights (Sigelman & Rider, 2010).
References
Executive Board of the Finnish Medical Association. (2007). The Rights of the Unborn. Web.
Santrock, J. W. (2012). Life-span Development (14th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill. ISBN-13: 9780078035326
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2010). Life-span Human Development (7th ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. ISBN-13: 978-1-111-34313-2