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Judith Jarvi's Arguments Against The Legalization Of Abortion

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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 …show more content…

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

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Thomson’s Response to This Objection- I think that Thomson’s response to my objection would be that while we are able to see that the pregnancy/violinist analogy does lack a realistic relevance because the situations that are set up are very different. The reader no matter their belief on the pregnancy/violinist case, or whether they agree with the Thomson case or not, provides no real insight on the rape case. I also think that Thomson would point out that her point in providing this analogy in particular was to stress the inference from said person’s right to life to that said person’s right to the use of another’s body.

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Elizabeth’s strong pro-choice values along with her parallel stance in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “Defense of Abortion” are core factors in her belief that abortion can be both morally permissible and impermissible given the circumstances in specific situations. In Elizabeth’s attempt to persuade her husband Tom to agree that terminating the pregnancy is morally permissible, Elizabeth’s best argument would be employ their like-minded beliefs to create justification and highlight her defense. Thomson’s argument that a human being has a right to determine what is does with their own body, even when there is no threat to life, is a direct reflection of Elizabeth’s defense. In explaining her desire to have abortion, Elizabeth can apply Thomson’s violinist analogy to illustrate and align her and her husband’s differing views of morality.

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This baby that is growing in the mother's body will become a child and then an adult and could have the most amazing life. That child could end up being super successful and loving their life, and that will never happen to those 1.2 million babies aborted each year. Also, just because it is the mother's body and she has the right to do what she wants, doesn’t mean that the baby growing inside of her doesn’t have the right to live, because everyone has the right to live, including those unborn children. (Why Abortion Is Bad for America - ProQuest). In addition to this argument, pro-choice activists that say that the unborn child is not living, nor is the fetus a personareis incorrect.

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This same way of thinking means that a fetus has no choice or ability to make decision when it comes to whose womb they inhabit as a result of failed contraception. Again, I am not arguing that abortion would not be morally permissible in the case of failed contraception but I am saying that there are key differences in intent and rational capacities between a malicious burglar and an unknowing fetus that weaken this analogy. Thomson also says that a burglar who breaks in should not have a right to stay in your house. While this is true, there are very few cases where a burglar will stay in your house if there intent is to steal something and get away. Staying in the house would be irrational if they want to get away with the crime.

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In “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Thomson argues with a unique approach regarding the topic of abortion. For the purpose of the argument, Thomas agrees to go against her belief and constructs an argument based on the idea that the fetus is a person at conception. She then formulates her arguments concerning that the right to life is not an absolute right. There are certain situations where abortion is morally permissible. She believes that the fetus’s right to life does not outweigh the right for the woman to control what happens to her own body.

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1967 Words | 8 Pages

Thomson hints to the idea that every human being has a right to life; therefore, the woman would have no moral obligation to continue with the pregnancy (Warren 309). Warren places much emphasis on Thomson’s argument for the probability of it being a strong stance for the permissibility of abortion or a strong argument that abortion is murder, which is unique in and of itself because it has the possibility of arguing for or against abortion. Thomson construes two steps in which the moral status of abortion should be determined by. The first step is determining the true moral status of a fetus and the second is creating a distinguishable difference between the rights of the fetus vs. the rights of the woman (Warren 309). Warren structures her argument like that of Thomson’s by creating two steps which will support her stance that abortion is morally

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However this fuels the social attitude in which women must seek permission, when many consider abortion to be a right which all women should have access too. This poses the question of if limiting the rights of women is ever justifiable in the best interests of the baby, the roman catholic church argue that a foetus is a person from the moment of conception this means that they to are entitled to the same rights of the mother and to have an abortion is to murder a living being. From this perspective it is apparent that they argue it is justifiable to put the rights of the foetuses; despite this point when a foetus is though to gain rights is a key point to this argument. As personhood would determine when a foetus is able to gain rights, although critics would argue that even still this does not warrant them to have the same full rights that the mother would

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Most abortion arguments discussed today revolve around the premise that a fetus is a human being at conception. In Judith Thomson’s essay, “A Defense to Abortion”, she argues on the topic of abortions. She defends the mother’s right to choose what happens to her body on the assumption that a baby becomes a human at conception. In the argument, she gives the famous Violinist analogy. I will argue in this essay that her argumentative analogy is not sound because of the difference in social importance.

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Doris Gudino Professor Chounlamountry Political Science 1 27 July 2015 Pro-Choice Anyone? A woman has, undoubtedly, the freedom to procreate, but once a woman chooses to retreat from that freedom, a commotion arises. Abortion is a woman’s choice for many reasons. It’s her body, therefore, no one else can decide for said person.

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Why Abortion Should Be Illegal Abortion has been a popular debate in the United States, especially after the Supreme Court ruling in 1973 stating a woman has the right to an abortion. In my opinion, abortion is wrong and very unethical. There are some specific instances where abortion may be acceptable, but for the most part, abortion is an evil act. Abortion should be illegal because it is the killing of an innocent human, even if he or she has not been born yet.

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1287 Words | 6 Pages

All woman should be allowed to choose abortion Common Argument #1: A fetus is a human being, and human beings have the right to life, so abortion is murder. Your Response: I’m probably not going to convince you that a fetus isn’t a life, as that’s basically the most intractable part of this whole debate, so I’ll be brief: A fetus can’t survive on its own. It is fully dependent on its mother’s body, unlike born human beings.

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863 Words | 4 Pages

Abortion is a very sensitive issue. Many people are constantly debating whether or not abortion should be allowed or not. Some people think abortion is very bad and that it should not be allowed at all. They think abortion is like committing murder as it is killing the human fetus. Others feel that the parents should have the right to choose and it is not murder until the baby is born.

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Abortion, a national debate, has created an ongoing controversy and is an issue that will never reach an agreement. Despite the many different sides on the topic, it is really something that should not be questioned. No government or group of people should feel that they have the right to dictate a persons life. Abortion should be legal because it is an important part of individual freedom, and the lack of choice could lead to serious emotional problems for the mother, health problems for the child, and a poor environment for it to grow up in. In America, the founding principles are based on freedom, and deciding whether to maintain or terminate a pregnancy is the most basic of all women rights.

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593 Words | 3 Pages

However, in most cases it is the embryo that is aborted and not a fetus, which is the stage in which the embryo starts to develop. As such an embryo cannot be written in statistics as a life lived as it is dependent solely on the carrier, thus aborting at this stage technically should not be considered as the taking of life but as a decision on whether to facilitate this possible life. Personhood begins after a fetus is able to survive outside the womb, not at conception. Conclusion

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469 Words | 2 Pages

The violinist is a person which can decide about his life or someone else, but the fetus nobody can hear what it wants. His/her mother can make choice to carry them for nine months because she decided to get pregnant. She also can decide to abort. So I do not agree with Thomson because I do not agree with abortion except in some very especial circumstances. I believe as a human we have to save live.

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