MEDRADSC 3Y03 - Abortion

What is the central claim of Judith Jarvis Thomson's argument in 'A Defense of Abortion'?

Having a right to life does not guarantee a right to be given the use of, or continued use of, another person's body, even if one needs it for life itself.

In Thomson's famous thought experiment, you awaken to find yourself attached to a _.

violinist

According to Thomson, what is the key intuition derived from the violinist thought experiment?

It is not morally obligatory to remain attached to the violinist, meaning bodily autonomy can override another's need for your body to sustain their life.

How does Thomson distinguish between a moral obligation and what one 'ought' to do in a minimally decent way?

She argues that while it might be decent to help the violinist for an hour, this 'ought' does not grant the violinist a right to your body, as rights cannot depend on how difficult they are to accord.

In Chitchanok Wanroek Demsar's 'Tubed Tubist' thought experiment, what is the key medical decision the protagonist must make after agreeing to stay attached?

Whether to refuse a painful, hourly rectal medication that their body must process to keep the tubist alive.

What is the primary conclusion drawn from Demsar's 'Tubed Tubist' analogy?

If one has the right to detach the tubist (killing him), one also has the right to refuse medication, even if it leads to the same outcome (his death).

In the 'Untubed Tubist' thought experiment, how is the protagonist's body needed to save the tubist?

Their body possesses the unique ability to process a chemical into a life-saving compound from their blood, requiring them to take a medication with severe side effects.

What is the main parallel Demsar draws between Thomson's abortion argument and the issue of vaccine refusal?

If bodily autonomy permits an act (abortion) known to cause the death of an innocent person, it must also permit an act (vaccine refusal) that poses a risk to others.

Demsar argues that based on Thomson's reasoning, medical mandates are unjust because such coercion could only be justified if the anti-vaxxer were _.

violating the rights of others

According to Demsar, what important asymmetry exists between the consequences of abortion and vaccine refusal?

An abortion may kill one person, while a single vaccine refusal could potentially contribute to the deaths of many people.

What was the initial legal framework for abortion established by the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision?

A trimester framework, where state restrictions on abortion varied based on the stage of pregnancy.

What was the primary historical argument used in Roe v. Wade to justify legalizing abortion?

Laws from the 1800s made abortion illegal due to health risks to women, but modern medical advances made the procedure safe, removing the state's compelling reason to ban it.

On what constitutional amendment did the Supreme Court base its Roe v. Wade decision regarding abortion?

The 14th Amendment, specifically the right to privacy under the concept of 'liberty'.

What was the 'neutrality argument' used by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade?

The court argued it was not in a position to resolve the philosophical, medical, and ethical debate on when life begins, so it could not adopt one view (e.g., life begins at conception) that would override a woman's rights.

In what year was the Roe v. Wade decision overturned by the Supreme Court?

June 2022.

What is Mary Anne Warren's central claim for why abortion is morally permissible?

Abortion is permissible because fetuses are not persons and do not belong to the moral community.

According to Warren, what are the two distinct types of 'human being'?

Members of the species homo sapiens (biological) and members of the moral community (persons).

List three of Mary Anne Warren's five traits associated with personhood.

Any three of: consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, capacity to communicate, and self-awareness.

What is a major problem or objection to Warren's criteria for personhood, often called the 'infanticide problem'?

Her criteria also exclude newborn infants and humans with severe cognitive disabilities, implying that killing them would also be morally permissible.

What is the key difference between how Thomson and Warren argue for the permissibility of abortion?

Thomson argues abortion is permissible even if the fetus is a person (based on bodily autonomy), while Warren argues it is permissible because the fetus is not a person.

What significant concession does Thomson make about her violinist analogy's applicability?

She concedes the analogy only works in cases where the pregnancy resulted from an involuntary action, like rape.

According to critics like Kaczor, what is the crucial moral distinction between disconnecting the violinist and a typical abortion?

Disconnecting the violinist is 'letting die' from a pre-existing condition, whereas abortion is a 'direct, intentional killing' that violates the fetus's bodily integrity.

What objection do Kaczor and Beckwith raise against the violinist analogy concerning the relationship between the individuals involved?

The violinist is a stranger, whereas a fetus is a biological offspring, and parents have special, pre-political obligations to their children that they do not have to strangers.

In Thomson's burglar analogy, opening a window is compared to intercourse. What is a key difference in causation that critics point out?

Opening a window only removes an obstacle for the burglar, whereas in pregnancy, the man and woman directly cause the fetus to exist where it is.

What is one advantage of Thomson's 'people-seeds' analogy over her burglar analogy?

It does not treat the fetus as a wrongdoer or as an entity that intends harm.

Christopher Kaczor critiques Warren's view of personhood, labeling it the '_ View'.

Performance

Define Kaczor's concept of the 'Performance View' of personhood.

A being is accorded respect and rights if and only if it functions in a certain way (e.g., possesses consciousness, reason).

What is the alternative to the Performance View proposed by Kaczor?

The 'Endowment View'.

Define Kaczor's concept of the 'Endowment View' of personhood.

Each human being has inherent moral worth and is a person simply by virtue of the kind of being it is (a rational animal), not because of its current functions.

What is the central premise of Alexander Pruss's main argument against abortion?

An adult is numerically identical to the fetus they once were, so if it is wrong to kill the adult now, it was wrong to kill that same individual when they were a fetus.

What name does Alexander Pruss give to the principle: 'If an organism that once existed has never died, then this organism still exists'?

The Persistence Principle.

How does Pruss's argument attempt to make the question of personhood irrelevant?

It focuses on the identity of the individual organism over time, arguing that the wrongness of killing is tied to the individual, not to when they acquire certain properties (personhood).

What was the status of abortion in Canada after the 1969 change to the criminal code?

It was allowed as an exception if the pregnancy threatened the life of the mother, but remained a crime in all other cases.

In what year was abortion fully legalized in Canada?

1989

According to the Supreme Court of Canada's 1989 ruling, when does a fetus gain legal rights?

A fetus is not a juridical person and has no rights until it is born alive and viable.

While abortion is legal across Canada, what is the main barrier to access?

It is left up to the provinces to determine access and funding, leading to a lack of clinics and services in some areas.

In Canadian medical practice, what action is sometimes taken during abortions after the 21st week of gestation?

Drugs are injected to ensure the fetus is killed prior to removal to avoid dealing with a live, aborted infant.

Kate Greasley begins her defense of abortion rights by conceding what point to her opponents?

If the fetus is a person, equivalent in value to a born human being, then abortion is almost always wrong.

In the 'Embryo Rescue Case' thought experiment, what choice must be made?

Whether to save five frozen embryos or one infant from a burning building.

What intuition is the 'Embryo Rescue Case' meant to demonstrate, according to Greasley?

The universal intuition to save the infant shows that the moral status of embryos is much lower than that of the infant.

According to Kate Greasley, what is an important milestone for establishing a legal threshold for personhood?

Birth, because it places the new human being in the necessary context for the development of conscious awareness.

What historical argument does Christopher Kaczor make based on the 'ethics of inclusion'?

He argues that every time in history a class of human beings has been denied basic rights (ethics of exclusion), we were wrong, suggesting we are making the same mistake with the unborn.

How does Kaczor defend his view that all humans are persons against the charge of 'speciesism'?

He argues human species membership is a sufficient condition for personhood (due to having a rational nature), not a necessary one, leaving open the possibility of non-human persons.

How does Kaczor use the 'right to be rescued' to counter the Embryo Rescue Case?

He argues the right to life is the right not to be intentionally killed, which is distinct from a right to be rescued; choosing to rescue one person over others doesn't mean the others lack a right to life.

What ethical principle does Kaczor apply to cases where a pregnancy threatens the mother's life?

The principle of double effect.

How does the principle of double effect permit life-saving treatment for a mother that results in the fetus's death?

It allows accepting the fetus's death as an unintended side effect of a morally good act (e.g., removing a cancerous uterus), as long as the death is not the intended means or end.

Demsar argues that if Thomson's argument is successful, it is sometimes morally permissible to exercise bodily autonomy in a way that one knows will lead to the _ of an innocent person.

death

The '_ view' of personhood, advocated by Warren and Greasley, holds that the core features of a person are developmentally acquired capacities.

performance

The '_ view' of personhood, advocated by Kaczor, holds that each human being has moral worth simply by virtue of the kind of being it is.

endowment

Critics argue that Thomson's analogies fail because they don't account for _, which parents have for their biological offspring but not for strangers.

special obligations

A key critique of the Roe v. Wade decision was its use of the term 'potential life' to refer to the fetus, which critics said was not _ language.

neutral

According to Canadian law, what say does a father have in the decision to terminate a pregnancy?

The father has no legal say in the decision.

What is Don Marquis' 'future-like-ours' argument, which Kaczor presents in his case against abortion?

Killing is wrong because it deprives the victim of a valuable future, and since a fetus has a future like ours, abortion is seriously wrong.