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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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In A Defense of Abortion Thompson presents an argument against the morality of abortion by showing the superiority of women’s rights through several different analogous cases. The case of focus will be case eight, “ A Selfless Brother’s Box of Chocolates.” In scenario one, Thompson argues that an older brother has a box of chocolates while his younger brother has nothing; the question of appeal is does the younger brother automatically have a right to these chocolates? The box of chocolates represents a woman’s body while the younger brother represents the fetus. Although it would be nice for the older brother (mother) to share his box of chocolates (mothers body) he is not obligated to share them with anyone even if he is perceived as a selfish, greedy, or a stingy person.

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Rosalind Hursthouse has a very different opinion on abortion and does not relate it to the murder of children or the rights of women. Instead, she justifies it through what a virtuous person would do. In the case study with the Thompson’s, Hursthouse would relate it to the relevance of the familiar biological facts and how pregnancy is a known result of sexual intercourse. The fact that Linda’s fetus is four months old would not be of relevance in Hursthouse’s opinion as clear lines are not visible as to when the fetus is attached and developed. The main focus of Hursthouse would be to question whether the abortion would be a result of a person acting “virtuously or viciously or neither” (Hursthouse 474).

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Written Assignment #6 In Judith Jarvis Thompson’s article, A Defense of Abortion, where Thompson discusses argues that abortion is not always permissible, but permissible in certain circumstances; such as, the abortion is done attempt to save the mother’s life and in cases of rape. However, I do not believe provides a solid enough argument in stating that abortion is immoral in nearly all circumstances. In this argument, Thompson takes on the perceptive that the fetus is a living person.

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Patrick Lee and Robert George assert that abortion is objectively immoral. One of Lee and George’s main reason for coming to this conclusion is that human embryos are living human beings. This essentially validates that abortion is indeed the process of killing a human. Another main point said by the two is a rebuttal to a common argument used in favor of abortion, which states that a potential mother has full parental responsibilities only if she has voluntarily assumed them. The rebuttal to this was that the potential mother does indeed have special responsibilities to raise the child.

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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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Abortion Defense Author’s name Institution Affiliation ABORTION DEFENSE Abortion remains a contentious issue in the current society. Various arguments have been developed, either for or against abortion. Most of these arguments rely on the premise on whether a fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. Thompson (2003) presents a violinist fictional case whose moral relevance complements the permissibility of abortion in a moral society. The violinist example is as follows; a famous violinist has been diagnosed with a fatal kidney ailment, and it is discovered from medical records that only you has the blood characteristics that correspond to his.

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In reflection to the readings, there are many arguments that are for or against abortion. Is abortion ever justified? In feminism point of view, Susan Sherwin believes, yes, abortion is justified because it focuses on woman’s right to abortion in a liberal aspect. She also believes that woman’s right that pregnant woman are the best judge when to considering to abort the fetus. That means, the autonomy is shifted to the woman.

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Abortion is a topic that has been widely disputed and has long been considered whether it should be permissible. Even though it has been 30 years since abortion in Canada has been fully legalized, it is a topic that has remained taboo and many who choose to get an abortion are still heavily judged by society (Long, 2006). Judith Jarvis Thomson, in her piece, ‘A Defense of Abortion’, argues that abortion is morally permissible in most circumstances (Thomson, 1971). Thomson states how people should be Minimally Decent Samaritans, in that even if someone has no right to their assistance, they should save that person’s life if it doesn’t require significant sacrifice, and that this should be a standard we aim to stay above (Thomson, 1971). This

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This expands our understanding of moral complexities while creating room for new ethical reflections. Therefore, reframing an ethical dilemma makes a difference in making ethical decisions by promoting critical thinking, establishing empathy, and urging for a more thoughtful approach to such complex ethical issues. In the article “On Abortion and Defining a ‘Person’” by Gary Gutting, reframing the ethical dilemma of abortion by considering the concept of “personhood” makes a difference in making ethical decisions. Gutting talks about how rejecting the personhood position in the abortion debate can lead to different conclusions about the morality of abortion. Gutting draws attention to the complex nature of the abortion debate by raising the question of whether a fertilized egg should be regarded as a human being with full moral standing.

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Judith Thompson in her analogy of abortion gives a scenario, of someone waking up one morning only to find that they have been plugged into a violinist that has a kidney failure, they are told by doctors that they will have to be plugged into the “famous” violinist for nine months, if they unplug, the violinist dies, if they stay plugged in, the violinist after the nine months recover however that person suffers their right to what happens to their body. The question posed following this analogy is, should the person unplug? There are different aspects to look at it from, let me give my scenario, suppose a lady decides to have sex unprotected because she gains more pleasure from it and in the morning forgets to take her early morning pills and in total forgets to take birth control pills and becomes pregnant. She is the sole cause of the pregnancy and should take responsibility for it; the person plugged into the violinist in Judith Thompson’s analogy isn’t the cause of the failure of the kidney of the violinist so why should they have to take responsibility for it.

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Abortion is not only a fluctuating concept in our society, but an ethical and emotional debate, as well. The image I have chosen presents concepts from a cultural and historical background, as well as presents an ethical, emotional, and logical appeal to the audience. The debate about abortion has simply been overblown and exhausted. The truth of the matter is, abortion is murder. Ending a life, whether innocent or guilty, is murder.

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Thomson explains that since most people would agree that it is morally permissible to unplug yourself and continue living your life, they should also agree that it is morally permissible to terminate a fetus that is using your body. This particular analogy, however, is not fully convincing, and brings about an obvious

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For the sake of the following argument I shall grant the fetus the status of a person in the same way J. J. Thompson does in her ‘’In defense of Abortion’’. She then asks whether or not a person's right to life is stronger than the mother's right to decide what happens in and to her body. If so then the fetus should not be killed, hence making abortion morally impermissible. But she argues differently – the mother’s right to choose what happens to her body is more stringent than the person ’s right to life.

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The debate whether abortion is morally permissible or not permissible is commonly discussed between the considerations of the status of a fetus and ones virtue theory. A widely recognized theory of pro-choice advocates can be thought to be that their ethical view is that fetus’s merely are not humans because they lack the right to life since they believe a fetus does not obtain any sort of mental functions or capability of feelings. Although this may be true in some cases it is not in all so explaining the wrongness of killing, between the common debates whether a fetus does or does not obtain human hood, should be illustrated in a way of a virtuous theory. The wrongness of killing is explained by what the person or fetus is deprived of, such as their right to life; not by means of a heart beat or function of one’s body, but by the fact that it takes their ability of potentially growing into a person to have the same human characteristics as we do.

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