Deck 12: Abortion in the Hard Cases

Question 1

Under which of the following categories does abortion for fetal defects fall?

A) Hard cases of abortion
B) Typical cases of abortion
C) Both A and B
D) Neither A nor B

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following options best captures the court ruling in the Berman case?

A) The court dismissed only the wrongful-birth action
B) The court dismissed only the wrongful-life action
C) The court dismissed both actions
D) The court heard both actions

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The moral wrongness of killing a 6-year-old child because she has paralysis is invoked by an objection to which kind of abortion?

A) Abortion to save the mother's life or health
B) Abortion for fetal defects
C) Abortion for sex selection
D) Late-term abortion

Answer 3

B

Question 4

For whom is abortion for sex selection a hard case?

A) For abortion defenders
B) For abortion critics
C) For both A and B
D) For neither A nor B

Question 5

For whom is abortion to save the mother's life a hard case?

A) For abortion defenders
B) For abortion critics
C) For both A and B
D) For neither A nor B

Question 6

Given the medical evidence about some severe congenital disorders, which of the following best expresses the classical utilitarian position on abortion for fetal defects?

A) That it is morally permissible but should be rare
B) That it is morally forbidden
C) That it is morally permissible and even mandatory
D) None of the above

Question 7

According to Chapter 12, on the morality of abortion, for Down syndrome scientist Richard Dawkins and journalist Caroline White, both

A) Agreed about the poor quality of life of people with Down syndrome
B) Made quality-of-life judgments about people with Down syndrome
C) Tried to avoid discriminating against people with Down syndrome
D) All of the above

Question 8

Which of the moral theories below is most likely to agree with this argument: "Abortion for fetal defects is morally permissible and even obligatory whenever prenatal screening and diagnostic tests show that the fetus has a defect such that, if the pregnancy is carried to term, the neonate will face a life of unmitigated pain not compensated by comparable pleasure"

A) Kantian ethics
B) Virtue ethics
C) Classical utilitarianism
D) Particularism

Question 9

According to Chapter 12, sex-selective abortion faces what problem?

A) Sexism
B) Discrimination against women
C) Imbalance in the ratio of women to men in a society
D) All of the above

Question 10

Which of the following responses can abortion defenders offer to objections from the moral impermissibility of late-term abortions?

A) Deny that such abortions amount to the killing of a person
B) Hold that such abortions are very rare
C) Contend that they are justified by analogy with abortion for fetal defects
D) All of the above

Question 11

Which of the congenital defects mentioned in this chapter is often thought to justify an abortion and which is not? Explain.

Question 12

Why is abortion for sex selection a hard case? What is the sexism charge against using abortion to this end? How might defenders of this practice respond?

Question 13

Abortion for fetal defects has been justified on the grounds that parents who plan to have only one child could try again later until they conceive a child of "right" sex. How might the conservative Sanctity-of-Life doctrine discussed in Chapter 12 reply to this argument?

Question 14

Can an appeal to commonsense support Richard Dawkins's position on the moral necessity of aborting fetuses with Down syndrome? How would the argument run? Are there other reasons he could offer? Should he apologize for his remarks to those who found them offensive? (See "Richard Dawkins: 'Immoral' not to Abort Down's Fetuses," BBC News, 8/21/2014.)

Question 15

Was Caroline White's reply to Richard Dawkins on aborting fetuses with Down syndrome a justified personal attack? If not, what might she have said instead? (See "Richard Dawkins: 'Immoral' not to Abort Down's Fetuses," BBC News, 8/21/2014.)