Deck 11: Abortion

Question 1

According to statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, cited in your text, the women least likely to have abortions are

A)Black.
B)Hispanic.
C)White.
D)Poor.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

According to Thomson's argument, based on the analogy of the violinist, if a fetus is a human being, then its abortion cannot be morally permissible.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

All arguments regarding abortion depend on decisions regarding the moral status of the fetus.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

According to the Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling, there is a fundamental right to privacy.

Question 5

MacKinnon listed all the following as stages of fetal development except

A)Fertilization.
B)Viability.
C)Sensory awareness.
D)Quickening.

Question 6

What relevance does the morality of abortion have to whether or not there should be laws regulating abortion?

Question 7

According to Thomson, if one has a right to life one has a right to whatever is necessary to sustain that life.

Question 8

According to the Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling, abortion is not permissible beyond the 12th week of fetal development.

Question 9

A blastocyst is a

A)Ball of cells.
B)Type of abortion procedure.
C)Concept the pro-life camp uses to scare women.
D)Ovum.

Question 10

If some action is immoral, then it follows from this alone that it ought also to be illegal.

Question 11

Your text distinguishes "Method I" approaches to questions about the moral status of a fetus as focused on determining the stage of development at which a fetus should count as a person.

Question 12

The Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling on abortion asserts that a woman should always have a right to abortion if she so chooses.

Question 13

The ratio of boys to girls in some sections of China today is

A)96:100
B)115:100
C)124:100
D)120:100

Question 14

Sex-selective abortion is legal in

A)the United Kingdom
B)Canada
C)Germany
D)the United States

Question 15

If a woman bases her right to an abortion on her right to control her own body, she is arguing from the perspective of

A)Egoism.
B)Natural law.
C)Categorical Imperative.
D)Virtue ethics.

Question 16

To base the justification for legalized abortion on the fact that there were thousands of women dying as a result of illegal abortions, is to make an argument based on

A)Utilitarianism.
B)Virtue ethics.
C)Categorical Imperative.
D)Relativism.

Question 17

RU486 induces abortion by

A)preventing the blastocyte from embedding in the uterine wall.
B)replacing the amnioitic fluid with saline.
C)inducing uterine contractions.
D)inducing early labor.

Question 18

People who argue that abortions are wrong because they lead to a lack of adoptable babies are basing their argument on

A)Utilitarian concerns.
B)Natural law.
C)Kant's categorical imperative.
D)Egoistic concerns.

Question 19

According to the Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling, the right to privacy is absolute.

Question 20

According to utilitarian reasoning, abortion is morally unjustified if it will lead to more unhappiness than happiness.

Question 21

Present an argument either in support of or against abortion that uses the Method II approach to the question of moral status . You may formulate your own argument or present one from your text.  Explain the type of moral reasoning used in the argument (e.g., consequentialist, deontological, natural law, care ethics).

Question 22

Your text indicates five distinct criteria that the so-called Method II arguments may use to determine the moral status of a being (such as a fetus): 1. Being Human, 2. Being Like Human, 3. Potentiality, 4. Evolving Value, or 5. Actuality. For the following Method II claims, determine which of these five criteria is being employed.
" Early-term fetuses do not have as much moral value as late- term fetuses. "  Which Method II is assumed by this claim?

A)Potentiality.
B)Being like humans.
C)Being human.
D)Actuality.
E)Evolving value.

Question 23

Your text indicates five distinct criteria that the so-called Method II arguments may use to determine the moral status of a being (such as a fetus): 1. Being Human, 2. Being Like Human, 3. Potentiality, 4. Evolving Value, or 5. Actuality. For the following Method II claims, determine which of these five criteria is being employed.
" Some human beings simply do not have full moral status, because they do not actually have the ability to think and communicate (for example, those in a persistent vegetative state). "  Which Method II is assumed by this claim?

A)Potentiality.
B)Being like humans.
C)Being human.
D)Actuality.
E)Evolving value.

Question 24

Present an argument against abortion (either your own argument or one from your text)that uses the Method I approach to the question of moral status . Explain the type of moral reasoning used in the argument (e.g., consequentialist, deontological, natural law, care ethics).

Question 25

Your text distinguishes "Method II" approaches to questions about the moral status of a fetus as focused on determining what it is that gives human beings moral status.

Question 26

Present an argument in support of abortion (either your own argument or one from your text)  that does not rely depend on the moral status of the fetus . Explain the type of moral reasoning used in the argument (e.g., consequentialist, deontological, natural law, care ethics).

Question 27

Your text indicates five distinct criteria that the so-called Method II arguments may use to determine the moral status of a being (such as a fetus): 1. Being Human, 2. Being Like Human, 3. Potentiality, 4. Evolving Value, or 5. Actuality. For the following Method II claims, determine which of these five criteria is being employed.
"Though human, this fetus does not have the potential to develop the abilities of a person, for it has no upper brain. Thus, it does not have full rights to life."  Which Method II is assumed by this claim?

A)Potentiality.
B)Being like humans.
C)Being human.
D)Actuality.
E)Evolving value.

Question 28

Your text indicates five distinct criteria that the so-called Method II arguments may use to determine the moral status of a being (such as a fetus): 1. Being Human, 2. Being Like Human, 3. Potentiality, 4. Evolving Value, or 5. Actuality. For the following Method II claims, determine which of these five criteria is being employed.
" Because dolphin species can think and communicate, they have the same full moral status as members of the human species ."  Which Method II is assumed by this claim?

A)Potentiality.
B)Being like humans.
C)Being human.
D)Actuality.
E)Evolving value.

Question 29

Your text indicates five distinct criteria that the so-called Method II arguments may use to determine the moral status of a being (such as a fetus): 1. Being Human, 2. Being Like Human, 3. Potentiality, 4. Evolving Value, or 5. Actuality. For the following Method II claims, determine which of these five criteria is being employed.
"Taking the life of an innocent human being is morally impermissible. Therefore, abortion is morally wrong."  Which Method II is assumed by this claim?

A)Potentiality.
B)Being like humans.
C)Being human.
D)Actuality.
E)Evolving value.