Assignment task:
Rachel is a 19-year-old, attractive, Caucasian college sophomore. She believes strongly in racial equality and begins dating Kim (a sophomore student from Korea). Because her parents have told her on several occasions that they are strongly opposed to interracial dating and marriage, she intentionally does not inform her parents that she is dating Kim. Rachel becomes pregnant. After she tells Kim this, Kim informs her that he wants to marry her. He adds that after they graduate, it will be necessary for them to spend at least a few years in Korea. Kim also adds that his parents may initially object to their marriage because they have mentioned on a few occasions that it would not be proper for him to marry someone who is not Korean. Neither Kim nor Rachel has the money to pay for an abortion. Rachel decides she is not yet ready to get married, and she is uncertain about whether she wants to live in a foreign country. She therefore goes home with the intention of informing her parents that she is pregnant and needs $300 to obtain an abortion. She begins by telling her mother that she is dating Kim and that she has on a few occasions stayed overnight at his apartment. Her mother becomes visibly upset and calls in her husband. Both parents angrily inform Rachel that she must immediately stop dating Kim or they will financially force her to drop out of college. Her parents' reaction is so emotional that she decides not to inform them of her pregnancy. Rachel also fears that if she tells her parents, her father may physically hit her, as he had done in the past when he was intensely upset. Rachel returns to college very confused and distraught. Two days later she hears of someone who will perform the abortion for one-third the usual price. Kim and Rachel borrow the necessary money from their friends and go to the abortionist. Unknown to Kim and Rachel, the abortionist has not had any formal medical training and is fairly unskilled. Rachel begins hemorrhaging shortly after the abortion. Kim rushes her to the nearest hospital, but it is too late to save her life. The hospital administrator urges Kim to inform the police about the abortionist; she adds that Rachel was the fourth person who has been admitted to the hospital after being treated by this abortionist- the other three lived. Neither Kim nor the hospital administrator follows through in informing the police about the abortionist.
Consider how you would rank who is most and least responsible for Rachel's death (Rachel, Kim, Rachel's father, Rachel's mother, the abortionist, the hospital administrator)..
1. Who do you feel is most responsible and why?
2. Who do you feel is least responsible and why?
3. In what ways could this situation have been handled differently?
4. If Rachel were to seek assistance from you as a human service professional prior to seeing the abortionist, what resources would you provide her?