Letters to the Editor
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Ethics Quiz
While I strongly disagree with Wilkow's politics, and the South Dakota law, I do agree with him that this question is nothing but a "gotcha". As any ethics class will teach you, it is easy to construct hypothetical questions that reveal the flaws in anyone's ethical behavior.
(Would you leave a man bleeding by the side of the road rather than ruin your car's upholstery? Of course not? Then how can you reupholster your car, when you could give the money to charity?)
To take your school bus example, suppose one side has an innocent child, and the other has a happy couple in their 60's. Which do you save? Isn't either choice the "wrong" choice?
There are logical inconsistencies in the "pro-life" position on abortion. But there are at least as many in the pro-choice position. Where is that magical second at which a fetus goes from a collection of cells to an infant?
I am in favor of abortion rights, but pretending that our position is more "logical" than the other side's is not a winning argument.