Name:
Class:
Date:
chapter 11
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero.
Page 1
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
1. 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.
a. True
b. False
2. All arguments regarding abortion depend on decisions regarding the moral status of the fetus.
a. True
b. False
3. According to the Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling, abortion is not permissible beyond the 12th week of fetal
development.
a. True
b. False
4. 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.
a. True
b. False
5. 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.
a. True
b. False
6. According to the Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling, there is a fundamental right to privacy.
a. True
b. False
7. 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.
a. True
b. False
8. According to Thomson, if one has a right to life one has a right to whatever is necessary to sustain that life.
a. True
b. False
9. According to utilitarian reasoning, abortion is morally unjustified if it will lead to more unhappiness than happiness.
a. True
b. False
10. According to the Roe v. Wade 1971 Supreme Court ruling, the right to privacy is absolute.
a. True
Name:
Class:
Date:
chapter 11
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero.
Page 2
b. False
11. If some action is immoral, then it follows from this alone that it ought also to be illegal.
a. True
b. False
Indicate the answer choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. MacKinnon listed all the following as stages of fetal development except
a. Fertilization.
b. Viability.
c. Sensory awareness.
d. Quickening.
Name:
Class:
Date:
chapter 11
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero.
Page 3
18. 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.
19. Sex-selective abortion is legal in
a. the United Kingdom
b. Canada
c. Germany
d. the United States
20. 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
Indicate one or more answer choices that best complete the statement or answer the question.
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.
21. “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.
22. “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.
23. “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.
Name:
Class:
Date:
chapter 11
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero.
Page 4
24. “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.
25. “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.
26. What relevance does the morality of abortion have to whether or not there should be laws regulating abortion?
27. 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).
28. 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).
29. 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).
Name:
Class:
Date:
chapter 11
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero.
Page 5
Answer Key
1. True
2. False
Name:
Class:
Date:
chapter 11
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero.
Page 6