Judith Jarvi's Arguments Against The Legalization Of Abortion

When arguing about whether abortion should remain legal, there are two main arguments being used. The most common argument given on the side in favor of abortion is that a person’s right to life does not equal a person’s right to someone else’s body.The argument given by the side opposed to the legalization of abortion is that the fetus is considered a person and that every person has a right to life therefore abortion should be illegal. I think that abortion should remain legal because I think that a person’s right to their own body outweighs the fetus’ right to life. The argument against the legalization of abortion considers the fetus to be a person. During the sixth week of pregnancy the fetus develops a regular heart rhythm and the first brain activity can be detected. So before the sixth week of pregnancy the fetus had neither a regular heartbeat nor observable brain activity. Before the sixth week of pregnancy the fetus did not have two of the main primordial traits that are used to prove that a person is in a living state, so before the sixth week of development I don’t think it would be considered tenable for a fetus to be considered a living person. In Judith

Thomson’s A Defense Of Abortion, Ms. Thomson uses the example of a sick violinist to show that a person may have a right to life but that person does not have a right to your body. In her example you are kidnapped by a group of music lovers and hooked up to a machine that is using your kidneys to flush harmful toxins out of a famous violinists blood. If you were to unplug yourself from this machine the violinist would die but if you don’t unplug yourself then you will be forced to spend nine months in bed with a sick violinist hooked up to your kidneys. Although it would be considered largesse to continue to let the violinist use your kidneys it is your decision whether you allow the violinist to use your kidneys because your right to your own body outweighs the violinists right to