Abortion Profiteers

         In November 1978, the Chicago Sun-Times published the Abortion Profiteers, an investigative calculate that revea guide deplorable corruption and deceit in some(prenominal) shoot moolah Avenue abortion clinics. Five months ear deceitfulnessr the Sun-Times had receive a tip from a credible government origination (who wished to lodge anonymous) that it was possible four local abortion clinics were falsification motherhood tests so that they could perform un studyed abortions upon unsuspecting women. The Sun-Times began its investigating in conjunction with the Better Government Association (BGA). First, hush-hush investigators comprise as women in need of pregnancy focusing and submitted mannish person urine samples to the referral agencies for testing. After the referral agencies reported several of the male samples to be positively pregnant, they referred the reporters to Michigan Avenue clinics for abortions. The Sun-Times deepened its inve stigating by having its surreptitious reporters obtain jobs at several of the abortion clinics.          quatern months of undercover investigation provided the Sun-Times with all the evidence it needed to ambuscade the Madison Avenue clinics, although admittedly some of this evidence had been assemble through the illegal write of medical files. During this time the investigators get word chilling tales not only of false abortions, but late-pregnancy abortions, unauthorised medical personnel, Medic be fraud, improper anesthetic administration, and many other inexpert and unhonorable works. The publication of the Abortion Profiteers shocked the community and it lastly resulted in the closing of two Michigan Avenue clinics, the impoundment of one of the doctors, and new regulatory laws for outpatient abortion clinics. At the tit of this chilling tale are several issues that pose well-known(prenominal) ethical dilemmas for the media.        Â Â First, is undercover investigative repo! rtage an ethical mean of obtaining knowledge? Some would suggest no. Opponents of undercover news media intent that it is unethical for reporters to falsely represent themselves in rove to measuredly deceive people of their occupation. They would repugn that instead of move undercover investigative reporters to the abortion clinic, the Sun-Times should bemuse contacted the police force and false the investigation over to them. Advocates of investigative journalism support this practice by claiming that the ends justify the means. They determine that the reporters did not blatantly lie to the abortion clinics, they simply omitted some of the truth. Many undercover journalism supporters compact that the police are frequently hampered in their investigations by the a lot mundane process of obtaining search warrants and other proficient police procedures. They typically cipher the situation from a useful attitude in that they consider the majority of the people forg et put on from undercover journalism.         If, for the sake of argument, undercover investigative reporting was deemed to be ethical in this situation, then it raises the question of whether the investigation was conducted ethically and professionally. The undercover reporters from the Sun-Times began its investigation in cooperation with the B.G.A. and I view that this was a good start. However, the reporters violated the law when they made unauthorized copies of much than one hundred medical records. While I definetely believe that breaking the law was absolutely unprofessional, I figure that the investigators actions are still arguably ethical. The offense of illegal copying appears fry in comparison with the atrocious acts that the abortion clinics were committing. The reporters abideed their actions by claiming the need for evidence.         Another ethical question that this story poses is whether or not a reporter has an obligation to p revent maltreat to those approximately them.

The undercover journalists from the Sun-Times interacted with many women at the abortion clinics who were beingness misled and addicted false pregnancies. While they did not participate in the material abortion procedures, they did extradite contact with the patients both onward and aft(prenominal) the operation. During the course of their investigation the reporters witnessed frequent complications and even several deaths. Did the reporters abide an obligation to these women? Some would argue that the journalists should have through with(p) more to prevent harm. The Sun-Times had learned within the first a gibe o f(prenominal) weeks of its investigation that these false abortions were indeed being performed and it could have scrub the investigation over to the police at that point. This would have defend many of the innocent women who were needlessly harmed (and killed) during the following four months. However, others would argue that the need for evidence justifies the additional four months of investigative work. They contemplate the utilitarian perspective and state that the harm done to a few results in the security system of the many.         I in like manner view this situation from a primarily utilitarian perspective. Although I feel that the journalists should not have illegally copied medical records and perchance should have conducted a somewhat shorter investigation, in the end I believe that the ends justify the means. The Chicago Sun-Times reporters succeeded in uncovering a wind vane of deceit and scandal that ultimately led to new laws to protect wome n in outpatient abortion clinics. Although I estimat! e that the investigation could have been more professional, in the end it resulted in greater protection for the most people.                   If you want to get a full essay, monastic order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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