Study Questions – Thomson, "A Defense of Abortion"

 

  1. The abortion debate is usually thought to turn on the issue of whether the fetus is a person. Explain.

  2. Thomson grants for the sake of argument that the fetus is a person at the moment of conception. (189) Why? What is she trying to show?

  3. Under what circumstances is it morally permissible, on your view, for one person to take another person’s life? Provide as much detail as possible.

  4. What is the violinist example? (189) Why does Thomson believe that it is permissible for you to disconnect yourself from the violinist? (192 What in the world does any of this have to do with abortion?

  5. Explain why Thomson believes that it is permissible to abort a pregnancy that results from rape or incest. (193)

  6. Why does Thomson believe that it is permissible to abort pregnancies that result from consensual intercourse despite the use of contraceptives? (193) Explain her reasoning. Are you convinced by the example she gives? Why or why not?

  7. Why does Thomson believe that it is permissible to abort pregnancies that result from consensual intercourse that takes place without birth control? (193) Is there a morally relevant difference between the example she gives and such pregnancies?

  8. Consider the following passage: "Suppose pregnancy lasted only an hour, and constituted no threat to life or health. And suppose that a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape. Admittedly she did not voluntarily do anything to bring about the existence of a child. Admittedly she did nothing at all which would give the unborn person a right to the use of her body. All the same it might well be said … that she ought to allow it to remain for that hour—that it would be indecent in her to refuse." (194) Does this passage contradict Thomson’s earlier analysis?

  9. What is the difference between the good samaritan and the minimally decent samaritan? (194-5)