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Summary Of Defense Of Abortion By Judith Jarvis Thomson

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Reconstruction Since abortion is the epitome of a controversy topic, it often instigates passionate debates. In Judith Jarvis Thomson's "Defense of Abortion", she provides a pro-choice perspective. Her standpoint centralizes on evaluating the situation independently as opposed to gaging the cases in a black and white manner. Through rather outlandish depictions such as the violinist, she delineates a thought-provoking scenario for her arguments. Analysis Perhaps the most popular argument made against abortion is that the fetus is a person. Based on this assertion, the fetus has a moral right to life. The problem that Thomson identifies is that most of the anti-abortionist and pro-life supporters rely solely on this aspect for their argument and do not rationalize any other matter. For the sake of the discussion, Thomson accepts that the fetus is a human being. However, this logic does not forbid all abortions. To illustrate her view better, she describes an interesting example involving a famous violinist. The violinist has a fatal kidney …show more content…

Thomson asserts that it would be admissible to unplug it since you were kidnapped and suddenly bestowed with this liability without your consent. She connects this situation with a rape-induced pregnancy. By making the readers imagine themself in a similar situation, she is successful in her argument. Although we cannot fathom what a woman who got pregnant due to sexual assault is experiencing, the readers are able to attain a glimpse through Thomson's representation. Because it was involuntary, aborting the fetus will not be unjust. Therefore the right to life does not entail security from getting killed in general, but rather not to be killed unjustly. Her main argument is that there is no definite answer as to whether abortion is morally right or wrong. It all depends on each

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