Research Paper on:
Requiring HIV Testing of Women Who Are Pregnant

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
a woman be able to do what she wants with her body or does the state have the right to protect the fetus? Recent cases have come up in respect  to protecting unborn babies that go beyond abortion. One serious situation that plagues society today is the mother who abuses drugs while pregnant and gives birth to a drug-addicted  baby. Questions come up as to whether or not the mother should be prosecuted. However, what happens if a mother denies abuse but a physician has a strong suspicion? Should  the mother be tested for drugs if her doctor believes that her fetus is in danger? Other questions surface. Is the screening of pregnant women for HIV ethically  justified? Is it an invasion of privacy or is it a situation where the fetus has to be protected? On one hand, HIV is something that can harm the newborn  and so there is a case for testing. It is obviously better for the baby, his or her future health and so forth, if testing is done. At the same  time, there are many mothers who take very good care of their children. They may be heterosexual and married and do not even know that IV drug use is. Should  such persons be subject to taking unnecessary tests, or rather, should the government trust mothers to do the right thing? It does pay to look at the benefits of testing  when making such a decision. Why should pregnant women get tested for HIV? How would it affect a newborn or fetus? The answer is that if it is known  that a woman has HIV, there are a number of things that can be done to prevent transmission to the fetus, one of which is the taking of medication and