Chapter 11: Abortion Key terms – Prolife, prochoice, proabortion, and antichoice Stages of Fetal Development Methods of Abortion

Chapter 11: continued Abortion and the Law o Is abortion immoral or illegal? ◦ Roe v. Wade and the trimester approach ◦ Planned Parenthood v. Casey and the undue burden approach ◦ 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld the ban on partial birth abortion Abortion: Is it a Moral Question?

Chapter 11: continued Arguments that Do Not Depend on the Moral Status of the Fetus ◦ Utilitarian reasoning ◦ Some rights arguments

Chapter 11: continued Arguments that Do Depend on the Moral Status of the Fetus ◦ Method I: Fetal Development ◦ Conception or fertilization ◦ Detectable brain waves ◦ Quickening ◦ Viability

Chapter 11: continued Method II: Moral Status and the Right to Life ◦ Being Human ◦ Being Like Human Beings ◦ Potentiality ◦ Actuality ◦ Evolving Value

Chapter 11: continued Reading: A Defense of Abortion ◦ Begin by assuming that the fetus is a person form the moment of conception - The violinist example ◦ The extreme position: abortion is never permissible ◦ Abortion and a limited right to self-defense

Chapter 11: continued ◦ The four theses ◦ The box of chocolates ◦ Clarifying the meaning of a “right” ◦ Minimally Decent Samaritanism

Chapter 11: continued Reading: Why Abortion is Immoral ◦ The basic assumption in the abortion debate ◦ The typical anti-abortion strategy ◦ The typical pro-choice strategy ◦ The standoff

Chapter 11: continued ◦ Why is it wrong to kill an adult human being? ◦ The wrongness of killing and the loss of a future ◦ Support for the “loss of a future” argument ◦ The prima facie wrongness of abortion ◦ The permissibility of contraception