Self-Quiz 4.12: Judith Jarvis Thomson, A Defense of Abortion

Many people claim that a fetus is a person from the moment of conception. In her paper, Thomson

agrees with this claim.

disagrees with this claim.

grants this claim for the sake of argument.

Both the second and third answer choices are correct.

According to Thomson, the right to life is a right to

not be killed.

not be killed unjustly.

the bare minimum one needs for continued life.

individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Thomson claims that a woman grants a fetus a right to the use of her body whenever she has

intercourse.

intercourse voluntarily.

intercourse voluntarily without using protection.

None of the above

According to Thomson, a person is always morally required to accept the consequences of her actions if her action was

voluntary.

voluntary and she knew that those consequences were a possible result of her action.

voluntary and she could have prevented those consequences of her action.

None of the above

According to Thomson, what is the relationship between the right to life and the right to decide what happens to one's body?

The right to life is always more important.

The right to decide what happens to one's body is always more important.

The two rights never conflict.

None of the above

Which of the following claims does Thomson think is true?

Abortion is never morally permissible.

Abortion is sometimes morally impermissible.

A fetus is a person from the moment of conception.

Directly killing an innocent person is always impermissible.

When does Thomson think that abortion is morally impermissible?

Whenever the life of the mother is not threatened

When the woman has given the fetus the right to use her body

Any time past the first trimester

Never

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