Christian Ethics – 3rd Quarter – Natural Law & Abortion Review Questions –
The Role of Natural Law in the Formation of Christian Conscience
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Be able to define Natural Law.
What are the two main reasons why Natural Law arguments are important?
Be able to identify and to explain the three types of laws (divine, human, natural).
For each of the misunderstandings of Natural Law on pp.185-189, be ready to:
a. explain what this misunderstanding means by the word “natural”
b. explain why this is not what “Natural Law” means, using an example
Explain why we could also call Natural Law “the law of human nature.” Hints: What does
“nature” mean here? What is one of the most distinctive things about our “nature”?
Explain the connection between St. Paul and our understanding of the Natural Law.
According to Aquinas, what is the role of "right reason"? What is the role of "divine revelation"?
What does it mean to believe in the Natural Law?
What are the main tenets of Natural Law?
What would be the significance of a failure to abide by the Natural Law?
What three reasons does Aquinas give for why private property is the best system for dividing up
material goods?
Explain the parts of Aquinas’ argument for taking the goods of another in cases of necessity.
Why is a Natural Law argument both needed and useful with regard to the issue of polygamy?
What arguments does Aquinas give against the practice of polygamy based on: the good of the
children involved? the good of the friendship between husband and wife?
Explain the Natural Law argument for/against the death penalty. Where did Pope John Paul II
stand on the issue of the death penalty? Why?
Be able to outline the natural law argument against euthanasia as presented on pp. 201-204.
Scripture and the Catholic Church on Abortion
1. In what way can the Bible be used to support a pro-choice or a pro-life position on abortion? Are there
limits as to how useful the Bible is on the topic of abortion? Could one rely completely on the Bible in
forming an ethical position on abortion?
2. From what moment does the Catholic Church teach human life must be protected and absolutely
respected?
3. What does it mean to say abortion is wrong if “willed either as an end or as a means.”?
4. What penalty does the Church impose on one who formally cooperates in an abortion? As discussed in
class, what is the ultimate purpose of imposing this penalty?
5. What is the Catholic Church’s position on the legality of abortion? How does the Catechism use rights
language to support this position?
Cases in Bio-Ethics –Abortion (Varga Article) (with some overlap to class notes)
1. What is the name and year of the Supreme Court decision which effectively legalized abortion for all
nine months of pregnancy in the U.S.? What is the role, if any, of this decision in determining the morality
of abortion? What is moral positivism?
2. What abortion regulations does this decision allow for, according to three “trimesters” of pregnancy?
3. Why, even with the third trimester regulations above, is abortion still legal for all nine months? (Hint:
how is “life and health” of mother interpreted?)
4. Be ready to describe briefly each of the six stages which are often debated as the point when human life
begins and/or deserves protection: Conception, Implantation (Twinning and Recombination), Brain Waves,
Quickening, Viability, Birth. What is the basic argument in favor of each of these points? What is the
Catholic objection to taking these points (other than conception) as the marker for when human life begins?
5. What are the “nature-based” (developmental) and “performance-based” (capacity) definitions of life?
What difference would it make which definition one uses? Give an example. Explain the ethical problem
that can arise when using the “performance-based” definition.
6. What are the four steps of the basic argument against abortion in all circumstances, as explained in class?
7. Be ready to briefly explain the five “circumstances” in which an abortion decision might be made: life of
mother, health of mother, rape/incest, eugenic abortion, unmarried women (and other “social reasons”).
Know the approximate percentages of abortions requested in the U.S. for each of the circumstances.
8. How many Crisis Pregnancy Centers are there in the U.S. , and how do they attempt to provide solutions
for women and children, other than abortion?
9. How can the “quality of life” arguments given in favor of eugenic abortion be an ethical “slippery
slope,” and what basic ethical position can counter this mentality?
10. What argument is made concerning one’s basic humanity that would argue against abortion even in
cases of rape and incest?
11. What argument can be made against abortion in cases of rape and incest, from the standpoint of the
woman’s emotional well-being?
12. What basic principle would a consistent pro-life position hold in cases when the health OR life of a
pregnant mother are at risk?
13. What is the practical and ethical difference between direct abortion and the procedures done in “life of
the mother” cases like uterine cancer?
14. What is the Principle of Double Effect? When does it apply? What are its four conditions?
15. In general, what duties/responsibilities toward pregnant women would flow from a pro-life position? In
particular, what duties/responsibilities should a young man adhere to if he wishes to maintain a consistent
pro-life position?
Shifting the Focus in the Abortion Debate (Beckwith Article)
1. With regard to the humanity and personhood of the unborn fetus, what does Judith Jarvis Thomson
assume to be true before she gives her “violinist” analogy?
2. What is Thomson's basic argument for holding that an ordinary abortion is not prima facie wrong?
Explain Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “violinist analogy” and how she proposes to use it as a defense of abortion.
3. What is “ethical voluntarism,” and how does Beckwith argue that Thomson assumes this ethical
viewpoint?
4. In the second “problem” Beckwith covers, what does he say is the disanalogy between Thomson’s
“violinist” situation, and the situation of mother and unborn child?
5. In the third problem, why does it matter that abortion is killing instead of the withholding of treatment?
6. What does U.S. family law presuppose, and how does Beckwith argue that Thomson ignores these laws?
7. According to Beckwith, how is Thomson's argument inconsistent with true feminism?
8. How do Beckwith and Thomson differ on the right to post-uterine existence?
9. How does Thomson differ from the Christian worldview?
10. According to Beckwith, what does the pro-life movement need to do to counter the shift in the abortion
debate which Thomson's argument highlights?
Thirty Years After (Kavanaugh Article)
1. According to Fr. Kavanaugh, what do ultrasound portraits reveal to us?
2. Be familiar with the information he presents with regard to human development and abortions by the
trimesters in which they occur.
3. According to Fr. Kavanaugh, what are the two dominant options for when human life begins? What are
the basic arguments in favor of each option?
Rights Talk and Its Remedies (Hagen Article)
1. In general, how does legal treatment of abortion in Western Europe differ from that in the United States?
2. What is a "trump-right"? How does this relate to abortion in the US?
3. According to Glendon, what should the role of "intermediate institutions" be?
Meeting Jane Marie (Haberland Article)
Be ready to explain Kathleen Haberland’s experience with abortion and its consequences.
Class Notes and Handouts
1. From the Stages of Development / Abortion Comparison Chart handout: Be ready to identify the time
during pregnancy at which these stages of development occur: conception; implantation; heartbeat;
detectable brain waves; viability; birth. At what point after conception do most women first suspect they
may be pregnant? Between what weeks is the largest percentage of abortions performed? Have a general
understanding of what happens during a chemical (medication) and/or surgical abortion.
2. From "Facts on Induced Abortion in the US": Approximately how many abortions occur in the U.S.
annually? Have a general knowledge of the 'Law and Policy' section.
3. From "Losing a child by abortion," what is the context of the article and what point of view is expressed
by the author? What are the common symptoms or effects on men? How are they treated?
Important Court Cases:
Roe v. Wade- Date? What happened as a result of this case?
Doe v. Bolton- Date? What happened as a result of this case?
Planned Parenthood v. Casey- Date? What happened as a result of this case?
Gonzalez v. Carhart? What happened as a result of this case?