I need help writing a Ethics paper

Critical Thinking & Application Paper

St. Petersburg College Applied Ethics Program

Instructions: Read the case and answer the questions your instructor provided. It’s probably more useful to think of these as detailed and thorough answers, rather than as one long, traditional essay.

PREGNANT ATHLETES

During her junior season, Fantasia Goodwin started every game for the Syracuse women‘s basketball team. When Fantasia became pregnant during this season she debated with her decision whether to tell her coach. A spokesperson for the Syracuse athletic department reports that ―when the athletic department becomes aware that a student-athlete in a physical contact sport is pregnant, we pull her immediately and refer her to our medical staff. This response may be motivated in part by concerns for the student, fetus and the university‘s potential liability.

The American Gynecological and Obstetrics Association officially recommends that certain activities be avoided during pregnancy, including ―contact sports, such as ice hockey, soccer, and basketball [which] could result in harm to both you and your baby. Aside from contact, another source of potential harm from athletic activity is the potential for fetal overheating. Fetal temperatures average 1 degree C above maternal readings, and a maternal temperature of 102.6 degrees has been identified as a possible threshold for developing teratogenic and neural tube defects during the first trimester of pregnancy. Despite these warnings, medical professionals point out that there is wide variability among women and pregnancies, suggesting that in individual cases vigorous athletic activity may be more or less dangerous.

Interestingly, Goodwin played the entire season pregnant until she delivered a healthy baby boy two months after the season ended. Why would Goodwin play nearly an entire season of competitive collegiate basketball knowing that she was pregnant and taking a substantial risk of miscarriage? Goodwin herself has remained largely silent on this matter, but other elite athletes have been more forthcoming. For some the reason is simple: they enjoy competing in their sport and believe that it is possible to continue playing in relative safety. For scholarship athletes there may be a financial incentive to keep pregnancy quiet and continue to compete. While Title IX of the Civil Rights Act specifically prohibits public discrimination against pregnant women, some may assume pregnant women are unable to compete in athletics and this view may lead to the termination of athletic scholarships.

The NCAA‘s rules provide that pregnant athletes may be medically redshirted to allow an extra 6th year of athletic eligibility. However, the medical redshirt option is used at the discretion of the 17

school‘s athletic program. It is not a right provided to pregnant women. One athlete who lost her scholarship due to pregnancy reports, ―this may sound stupid, but the way I look at it is God will forgive the premarital sex more than he would killing my child. But if I had an abortion, I‘d still be on the team. Others wonder, ―Are pregnant athletes selfish? For many women athletes there is a tension, perceived or real, between motherhood and athletics.

What should Fantasia have done?

This case was based on and adapted from a case published by the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics for use in the national intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competition, and is being used with their permission.