Abortion (Medical ethics 2)

Question 1

what is abortion

Answer 1

the termination of an embryo at any time before birth

Question 2

early Christian view on abortion

Answer 2

abortion equates to murder

Question 3

later Christian view on abortion - around Aquinas’ time

Answer 3

don’t get a soul until 60 days

still discouraged as it encourages lustful behaviour

Question 4

Catholic view on abortion

Answer 4

wrong
murder
soul begins at fertilisation

Question 5

Who has the right to determine whether a person dies and their soul leaves body
and what does this make humans

Answer 5

only God

indispensable

Question 6

what is pro-choice

Answer 6

mother takes highest priority in decision
embryo is part of the woman’s body
woman could be affected socially, physically and economically

Question 7

what is the UK law about abortion

Answer 7

need 2 doctors consent
up to 24 weeks as of 1990
post 24 weeks if there is a risk of mother being injured or child being severely disabled
sociological and medical factors

Question 8

J J Thompson’s stance on abortion

Answer 8

pro choice
arguments about consent, violinist analogy
right to life does not entail the right to use another’s body

Question 9

Phillippa Foot’s stance on abortion

Answer 9

intended vs unintended consequences
positive vs negative duties
doctor killing 1 to save 5 - trolley problem
abortion is acceptable if it saves a mother’s life
positive duty to save life ever negative duty to not kill

Question 10

Don Marquis’s stance on abortion

Answer 10

pro-life

deprives foetus of a ‘future like ours’

Question 11

Jonathon Glover’s stance on abortion

Answer 11

pro-choice
pro-life is untenable
need to assess each case
modern medicine should be used where necessary for health and happiness

Question 12

What is Judy Jarvis Thomspon’s essay called

Answer 12

a defence of abortion

Question 13

what to most opposition to abortion rely upon and what is one issue with it (J J Thompson)

Answer 13

the premise that a foetus is a person from the moment of conception
not enough depth to this opposition

Question 14

what looks dim (J J Thompson)

Answer 14

drawing a line between when a foetus is a person

Question 15

J J Thompson quote about foetus

Answer 15

“the foetus is not a person from the moment of conception”

Question 16

Analogy for foetus as a person

Answer 16

an acorn is an oak tree

Question 17

violinist analogy for if a foetus has the same right to life as a human
+ what if it was rape (J J Thompson)

Answer 17

imagine you are plugged into a famous violinist for 9 moths so he survives
violinist has a right to live
person’s right to live outweighs your body’s choice

imagine you w ere kidnapped to save violinist

Question 18

what is the extreme view of pro life
why
against
(J J Thompson)

Answer 18

no abortion even if it was rape or mother’s life is put at risk

mother is being allowed to die, foetus would be killed

mother has the right to self defence

Question 19

argument against a third party not being allowed to perform an abortion (J J Thompson) - house analogy

Answer 19

mother = owner of house

3rd party should recognise right to the house as one would acknowledge a coat owner

Question 20

kidney argument (J J Thompson)

Answer 20

you wouldn’t be forced to give someone your kidney to keep them alive

Question 21

right to life quote J J Thompson

Answer 21

‘the right to life consists not in the right to not be killed, but rather in the right not be killed unjustly’

Question 22

what is the mother not morally required to do (J J Thompson)

Answer 22

share her body

Question 23

what is the conclusion of J J Thompson’s essay

Answer 23

assuming a foetus is a person is problematic and false
acorns aren’t oak trees
even granting that, early abortions are permissible