Suicide-is defined as intentionally destroying yourself. Ex: a soldier trying to
protect his platoon. It’s not suicide. He was protecting.
Heroic sacrifice- giving your life for someone else’s. Ex: if a guy sees a 18 wheeler
coming and he is driving and the impact is going to kill his wife. He intentionally
turned the wheel so that his wife could live.
Doctrine of double effect- 2 different effects. Difference b/w foresee and
intend…..to know its going to happen….not good enough, wasn’t intent
Sacrifice is always wrong, but being a hero is okay.
PHILOSOPHICAL: life is very valuable and shouldn’t be done. Logical
contradiction using free will to eliminate your free will. Unnatural, b/c naturally
you’re supposed to love yourself (self-preservation). Dehumanizing (thought of as
a thing) lower than animal. Not entitiled to happiness
RELIGIOUS: you belong to God. You’re God’s property; a soldier AWOL; death;
you have a divine purpose. It’s not universal. Ex: kamikaze or terrorism now
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCE: everyone else around you. You don’t experience your
own impacts. other people do. Ex: when you die, your family feels the pain and
mourns over your death.
Ex: Cato killed himself. Heroic sacrifice? Kant thinks he is a coward.
Not always irrational-reasons matter A LOT!!!!! Not always unnatural. avoid pain.
God? How do you know God’s will? Worried about autonomy-human beings
discount the future. Blinded by present pain; distorted judgment. Blinded by
Conventional doctrine- active euthanasia (lethal injection) is murder given by
Passive-let them die
Active is better. Either they are the same (same outcome, dead either way; maybe
the same motive). If there is a difference, passive is worst, b/c you are watching
that person suffer. Make decisions on morally irrelevant grounds.
Stated reason (reason we claim to have) vs. the real reason are different
Same motive; same outcome; kid
Doctors don’t inherit; consent; adults
Physical (stuff outside my control) causality vs. moral responsibility (personal
responsibility in my control)
Cancer is like a hurricane. Can’t blame anyone for that.
Doctors responsible for active euthanasia
Illegal and immoral –doctors not supposed to kill, they are supposed to heal
Rachael’s –one is worse than the other. Letting someone die is worse than helping
Callahan- saying they are both the same. When they are not.one w/ nature. Trick
ourselves into thinking we control more than we really do.
Doctors can’t control cancer. Difference b/w self/ world.
Self-shooting up to kill you. World- hurricane
Equal protection-have to be alike to be treated the same.
PAS dangerous for society b/c you lose relationship w/ trust w/ patients/ doctors
-pressure ex: old; vulnerable people
O’Connor- leave stuff up to the states.
Terminal sedation- treatment refusal & good drugs
Refuse treatment or no good drugs OR
Get drugs but you don’t refuse drugs.
Gronigen protocol-kill justifying anfantacide
-unbearable suffering ex spina bifida. – Children unbearable suffering
-can you measure if someone is suffering. –heartbeat; vital signs, blood pressure
Bearable- subjective; depends how much pain a person can take
-blinded by present pain
-blinded by future discrimination
Future autonomy, patient’s goals?
Will to live-how much of a fighter this person is.
Non arbitrary for human life?Conception?
-what are we going to call it.
Biological human being rational, moral
-viability- baby can survive outside the womb.
-he thinks it’s a person w/ moral status from the start.
Network of complicity- blaming you. You know it’s wrong, but you go along w/ it.
-men pressure them as well.-presumption argument- if you don’t know, presume it
In your heart if you don’t know if it’s a baby and you kill it you committed murder.
Don’t treat it as a clump of cells.
―unbearable suffering‖- cannot measure
Parent’s motives- don’t want to see them suffer. Ex: spina bifida suffering
-Presumption argument- if you don’t know if fetus is a person, assume it does. If it
has moral status, and you kill it, you’ve committed murder.
Already believe murder is bad.- universal standard
Biological/ moral; interests/rights; personhood; no right to life, b/c its not a person;
fetus are potential people’ mother is a person
Rights of any actual person outweigh the rights of a potential person have a right to
health, happiness (w/e makes mom happy, she can do) and freedom
Indecent not moral
Indecent-not appropriate bizarre decision ex. littering
Not moral- baby doesn’t have rights
Interests to a potential person
7 months not immoral; are newborns persons?; more developed?; no one excepts
Newborns are outside of the body different from fetus
-not directly attached to mom; no longer a danger to mother; closer to being like
us. 9 months aren’t magic, but 7 months isn’t enough time.
Abortion is general moral; the same as killing an adult, taking away someone’s
future; murder is wrong of an adult; taking future away—plans, projects, hopes and
Murder is wrong- why is it wrong? – why? Take away future
-abortion is wrong for the same reason
It has to be potential
Not based on right to life
-abortion is the same as logic
Takes away ―future like ours‖
Potential people mean a lot to him
-do not have a right to life
Future: - does not mean time or happiness
It means you have plans
Fetus:potential in the same sense as an adult
Abortion is permissible or acceptable; right to life, no life to your body; violinistindecent not immoral a need doesn’t equal right
A box of chocolates- immoral; the mother’s body
Fetus has a right to life; a need does not imply a right; indecent but not immoral,
b/c it was done w/o consent
-failed contraception -----not fully responsible ---tried your best not to have it
-right comes into world if you willingly did it It’s when you give it the right.
The box of chocolates- given to 1-greedy, but not a thief
Henry Fonda-being a good Samaritan: doesn’t have to do I; indecent, but not
Criticize JJT- right to be in wound comes from mom
-where do rights come from?
Government or other people can abuse people can abuse authority
Right to life, but can’t live w/o the wound
A fetus is a human in a biological sense, but not in a moral sense; potential people;
not member of the moral community; infanticide is wrong but abortion is okay;
doesn’t have moral rights; real people have interests; indecent but permissible,
inappropriate ex 7 month pregnant lady wanting to get an abortion just to go to
1st objection infanticide-she believes in abortion in the late stage is wrong.
Infanticide is wrong but abortion is okay. Newborns are outside the body, not
attached or threat to mother. Closer to being like us.
-criticize Warren- eventually potential people will be people.
Abortion is up to mother; unique irreplaceable, no rights/ interests; wrong to
destroy it; wrong to destroy it; but indecent; that’s why it’s a comparison to Da
Vinci painting; motherhood
Abortion is up to the mother; cares about motherhood- supposed to change you as
a person; practical identity; some people may not be ready for that change (if ---then)
If you accept responsibility, then abortion is wrong, but if she isn’t ready, then it’s
If you can’t raise kid (―refusal to create‖)
-she doesn’t need any reason, all she needs is to say I’m not ready
Indecent but not immoral
Fetus is like a Da Vinci painting
-destroying the value, not hurting the painting itself. It has no right, it has no
interest; value not based on potential b/c it’s unique; one of a kind, origin of human
life; indecent, not immoral
As long as you abort in serious fashion
-defends female autonomy not biology
Roe vs. Wade:
Abortion is a right to privacy; Texas wanted to make it illegal to have an abortion;
states cannot band, they can only regulate abortion. It’s implied in the constitution,
it’s not explicitly in there; defer to legislature; a right against unlaw search &
1.) Strict constructionism- no implied rights; super clear & simple ----rights are
not implied hard to debate; danger of interpretation-judges could be bias;
consistency? Maybe judges are biased-they are human---legislation from the
bench;closer to people; legislative process; judicial activism; let states
2.) Living constitution-interpretation is necessary b/c time and society change;
update constitution, evolve over time ---put judges in charge of making these
interpretations; want judges to decide; danger of letting court decide; didn’t
vote for 9 unelected people; swing vote-tie breaker on supreme court
(Anthony Kennedy); 5-4 vote for something; like a right to privacy; one
Ex: speeding down airline, friend is hurt in passenger seat trying to get to the
Embryos are like us; embryos are not human organisms; embryos are cells
growing; marble in a sack. – a bunch of individual cells
-not organism-not killing anything when you harvest stem cells; we are not
humans, we are persons (higher brain); start out as a clump of cells----organisms--person (develop to become Higher Brain)----organism (can die and keep on
machine---cells; only have moral status until you become a person; you were never
Disrespectful to embryo; wrong to create in order to destroy; disrespecting human
life; do not agree w/ McMahan; do not agree w/ stages, it’s you all the way; ―single
personal history‖; not denying the steps but you don’t become you until you
become a person
Ex: bone marrow; spinal cord; cure disease like paralysis
-ends justify means? ; no guarantee it will cure; other options; do bad stuff in short
term; ―immanent potentially‖-pop it in mama, let it cook for 9 months, you get a
baby; question of environment; potential-can do it, but not yet vs. has the ability;
Genetic info; second class citizens; us viewing baby as having a disease; disease is
no longer a trait—ex: view as downs baby instead of down-syndrome; language of
identity; personality disorder
Minimal satisfy life; don’t give Huntington’s disease- shows up later; 50% you
may pass it down or not; give basics; presumption argument- duty to genetically
Worried about use of resources; worried about how it affects women; go adopt if
can’t have one naturally; worried about money used for this; use money for curing
other diseases. i.e cancer, AIDS; shouldn’t expect infertile couples to give up their
dream to have kids; too morally demanding; spend money frivously; women are
used for reproductive control; male dominated field; outside the womb-gives
Ideal world; want people to adopt, but it won’t work b/c people want children
-he takes it seriously, but doesn’t accept it; putting the burden on infertile couples
is not fair; reduces status of women
Morally problematic; reinforces bad social norms; women are viewed as breeding
and children as commodities; no excuse in a world of IVF to not have kids, b/c we
can fix you; view infertility as a ―disease‖ b/c they can’t have children
Medicalization of Pregnancy:
Don’t worry about women; there are lady scientists who are working on
technology; reinforces bad social norms; view kids as being bought & sold; women
are seen as breeders
Go to a hospital to give birth---that’s where sick people go; impersonal; all about
the procedure; IVF takes it ti an extreme; loss of reproductive control convenient
for women…….BUT, you won’t need women anymore; loss of bond b/w mother
& child. Not about mom all about procedure
Artificial womb-slippery slope…. argument bad for women
-child is biological
Heir is a ―dependent‖ have to exist to be a dependent; someone who gets money
when you die
-change nature of pregnancy
-no need for women anymore
Woman carrying a child for her sister; strengthens bond (family bond), thinks
commercial surrogacy is slavelike; being treated like a commodity; woman
carrying a child is being used; used-selling; the fetus is being ―bought & sold‖
ruins family values/ market values
Market value- getting paid- personal preference, subjective preference---w/e I want
-relationship, unchosen obligations, doesn’t choose family; it’s your blood, don’t
choose obligations; acceptance not controlled; you can work w/ it, but can’t control
it; harm kids
you determine families; it’s by chance not by choice; kid already exist---won’t
understand ―no baby bump‖ how do you explain that to a 4 year old; violates
shared cultural values
-more than 1 culture & don’t share the same values. –family/market values
A family is not like going to the grocery store.
Regulate, don’t band; don’t band, leave up to states to decide
-paternalism!!!! - should not band for this reason
-consenting adults, voluntary transaction
1. 1 adult wants money
2. 1 adult wants womb
-dangerous for government to tell women that can’t do this….—view as adoptioncommercial surrogacy as prenatal adoption
-adoption is great; baby selling is horrible, but prenatal adoption is great; is the
harm worse than not existing at all? – no obviously not ( for surrogate kid); no
unique harm hurts kids ex: divorcel moving away, therefore you don’t band,
regulate, make sure it’s done right ( for surrogate kid)
Leads to good consequesnce
-fair compensation; huge time investment, health risk.