The goal of Judith Jarvis Thomson in her defense of abortion is to sway the ideas of those who are against abortion by challenging the arguments they give for thinking so. She begins by stating a premise. “For the sake of the argument” a human embryo is a person. This premise is one of the arguments most opponents of abortion use, but as she points out, isn’t much of an argument at all. These people spend a lot of their time dwelling on the fact that the fetus is a person and hardly any time explaining how the fetus being a person has anything to with abortion being impermissible. In the same breath, she states that those who agree with abortion spend a lot of their time saying the fetus is in fact not a person. Either way, no argument is really formed. No reasons are given. For sake of challenging an actual argument, she is disregarding this issue. With this premise out of the way, she addresses the basic argument the pro-choice campaign believes. “Every person has a right to life. So the fetus has a right to life. No doubt the mother has a right to decide what shall happen in and to her body; everyone would grant that. But surely a person’s right to life is stronger and more stringent than the mother’s right to decide what happens in and to her body, and so outweighs it. So the fetus may not be killed; an abortion may not be performed.” The remainder of her paper is a series of analogies meant to challenge the basic argument mention above. When looking at the analogies separately, they are in no way related to the abortion topic, but the conclusions drawn from each can be applied. Because these examples aren’t directly related to the debate, our emotions won’t necessarily be involved and we can clearly think about what is the “right” thing to do for each specific scenario.…
The topic of abortion is a highly controversial issue in today's society, and various views are held concerning the morality of the procedure. Some people feel that abortion is simply cold-blooded murder, because it is their opinion that a 'foetus' is a human being from the moment of conception. However, others would argue that a foetus is merely insubstantial matter, dependant entirely on its mother's body for survival, with no real life of its own. It is for this reason that pro-abortionists support the woman's choice to undergo abortion. After all, why should something so small and insignificant, which is not yet human, be entitled to the same rights and privileges a real human has"…
Many people believe that abortions should be legal because women should have the right to choose whether or not they want to bring a baby into the world. They believe a woman should have property rights which include the body and the fetus. They also believe a woman should have privacy rights which means the state should not interfere with private matters. These people are called pro choice. At the same time many people are anti-abortion because they believe “Life is present from the moment of conception” (526). In Don Marquis’s essay, “Why Abortion is Immoral” he takes the position that abortion is “morally unjustified” (525). The purpose of the essay is to go against the belief that “The anti-abortion position is either a symptom of irrational religious dogma or a conclusion generated by seriously confused philosophical argument” (525). Abortions should be illegal because they are morally wrong except, in cases beyond our control.…
Due to boldily autonomy and the clear distinction between a fetus and a rational, self-aware person, abortion is morally permissible practically whenever the mother chooses it, given it is done humanely. Most people would agree that in cases where the woman did not choose pregnancy, like rape, abortion should be morally permissible due to bodily autonomy and the immorality of asking someone to undergo psychological and physical trauma due to something beyond their control. This is supported by the Famous Violinist argument which explains that women, especially those who are pregnant due to rape, are not morally obligated to endure this immense sacrifice, even if it would be nice to do so (Singer, 1975, p.113-114). Whilst Thomson’s argument has fallen under criticism based on utilitarianism, these arguments are countered by Singer’s deconstruction of the Conservative Argument and its flawed perception that human life is inherently special, which demonstrates the moral permissibility of most abortions. The Conservative Argument’s premise that a fetus is an innocent human can mean two things: either the fetus is a person that has self-awareness and rational thought or a fetus is a member of the human species (Singer, 1975, p.117).…
In industrialized world, abortion is not a criminal offence until a series of law against abortion were passed during the nineteenth century. The proponent prohibition of abortion globally has stressed the medical dangers of abortion. Moreover, it is also argued that fetuses are human beings. Deliberate abortion is therefore considered a form of homicide crime (……..). In popular rhetoric in the USA, abortion issue is considered as a purely women’s right that helps them in maintaining their bodies. Therefore, if women possess the moral right to abort their unwanted pregnancies, the law should not prohibit them from practicing the act of abortion. However, the arguments for this right cannot entirely solve the moral issue of abortion. It is one thing to have a right and another to morally justify when exercising that right. Since fetuses are considered to have equal rights to life like any other person, women’s right to abortion should therefore be exercised only on extreme…
Over the course of this semester in this class, we have read and discussed several different types of arguments. From searching for a basic definition of what it means to be an individual and survive as one to what it means to exist on equal footing with beings of other species, each argument has presented its own compelling views. As this class was my first philosophy class I have ever taken, certain arguments grabbed my attention more than others. Of these, the argument and position presented by Judith Jarvis Thomson in “A Defense of Abortion” caused me to rethink my view on the topic. Raised in a politically conservative environment, the argument against abortion I most commonly heard was that fetuses are people and should be afforded rights…
The debate over whether abortion should be legal and to what point in the pregnancy it should be allowed has polarized many societies. Many religious preach that at the moment of conception, the new life is human and possesses a soul. Therefore, abortion is murder. Other, less extreme views, suggest the life is not human until there is a recognizable "completion of form." A third view proposes we have an obligation to create a good life for all children already born before we bring more unwanted children into the world.…
This essay revolved around many arguments, but mostly two main pro-life arguments. One includes the argument that it is wrong to kill a human being. A fetus is a human being, therefore it is wrong to kill a fetus. Abortion is the killing of a fetus, therefore abortion is wrong. Another argument involved is the argument that all human beings have a right to life. All fetuses are human beings. Killing a being with a right to life is wrong; therefore it is wrong to kill a fetus. Abortion is the killing of a fetus, therefore abortion is wrong. Through her destructive argument she is attempting to establish that even if the fetus is seen as a human being, it does not automatically have a right to use to body of a woman, and thus does not necessarily have a right to life.…
Abortion is a legal and necessary medical procedure to have available in the United States. Despite spiritual, emotional, or physical beliefs, the basic truth of any right or law is that a person is free to express his or her opinion and to fight for causes, provided it does not harm another person. This concept could also be applied to the issue of abortion. Though some may argue that a woman who gets an abortion is, in fact, harming another person, medical research has yet to define personhood as happening in the “moment of conception.” Personhood (which is what the concept would apply to) is defined as happening in the “moment of birth” (ProCon.org, 2012).…
In On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Mary Anne Warren discusses a few arguments against abortion, namely bringing into play whether the fetus is actually a person, or “not a member of the moral community”. She…
A dilemma is brewing for the society as a whole today in the name of abortion which has become a controversial issue that faces everyone countrywide. Abortion is defined as the forcible removal of a developing baby from the womb of his or her mother, using surgical, involuntary, or chemical means. Nowadays, abortion has been a very popular and debatable topic because of the moral and ethical issue associated with it. The most momentous moment in the history of abortion in America was the Roe vs. Wade case, which allowed the option of abortions legal to women across the nation. Today struggle still remains on the moral ethics behind it and the question is asked, “Is abortion the murder of an unborn child?” and the other question asked today is, “should abortion be declared illegal?” The debate over abortion in the United States historically holds ground both politically and socially. America is split into two sides; pro - choice and pro – life, both sides have their points that they stand on. To sum it up, either a living human is or isn’t being killed, and case between life or liberty is born. The differences make it hard to settle the two sides. Though it looks like both sides will never compromise they do share some similarities. Both sides to the abortion controversy share a common objective, which is to make abortion safer, and the overall number of abortions should reduce. There is much debate whether this is an action of life or death, and the difference is rather large. Our nation is split over the legal and moral status of abortion. The two sides of abortion, are the "pro-choice” and the "pro-life." In simple terms, a pro-choice individual believes that the choice to abort a pregnancy is to be made only by the woman; the state should not interfere. A pro-life advocate believes from the second of conception, the fetus is alive; and has rights thus abortion is the…
Recently, there has been talk amongst many Americans about whether or not the “death penalty” should be outlawed in the United States. Although the crime may be unforgivable, no one should have the right to decide whether or not a person’s life should be stripped away, because nothing is more important than a person’s life. There are many reasons why the death penalty should be outlawed, one reason is that many criminals put on trial may face discrimination, and receive a bias punishment. Another reason is that the death penalty is very costly and that the alternative, life without parole, is a much cheaper and easier solution. The death penalty also reflects the moral standing of today's society. Nobody can justify taking another person’s…
The moral gravity of procured abortion is apparent in all its truth if we recognize that we are dealing with murder and, in particular, when we consider the specific elements involved. The one eliminated is a human being at the very beginning of life. No one more absolutely innocent could be imagined. In no way could this human being ever be considered an aggressor, much less an unjust aggressor! He or she is weak, defenseless, even to the point of lacking that minimal form of defense consisting in the poignant power of a newborn baby's cries and tears. The unborn child is totally entrusted to the protection and care of the woman carrying him or her in the womb. And yet sometimes it is precisely the mother herself who makes the decision and asks for the child to be eliminated, and who then goes about having it done. It is true that the decision to have an abortion is often tragic and painful for the mother insofar as the decision to rid herself of the fruit of conception is not made for purely selfish reasons or out of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Sometimes it is feared that the child to be born would live in such conditions that it would be better if the birth did not take place. Nevertheless, these reasons and others like them, however serious and tragic, can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.…
Jeffrey Reiman, Professor of Philosophy and religion at American University, quotes Patrick Lee in his article, who describes the pro-life argument that abortion is a form of murder. Reiman recites Lee’s description “’that it is wrong to kill an unborn human being because she is identical to an entity that, at some time later in her development, everyone agrees it is wrong to kill” (Reiman, 332). To put weight behind this point, pro-lifers hold that since abortion is murder, it is therefore unconstitutional, and that going against the constitution could lead to significant legal ramifications. This argument belongs to pro-life supporters, but its main focus is not on women’s rights because not all pro-lifers are feminists, while the pro-choice party is mostly consistent of…
Abortion is a heavily debated issue in our country. Many people believe it is immoral and unethical, while some see it as a necessity. Whether the fetus is one or forty-five weeks old, many still see it as murder. At what point of the term of a woman’s pregnancy, is a fetus considered a human being? This issue is still up for further debate. The debate in regards to abortion stems from whether a woman should have the right to end her pregnancy or give birth. I personally do not believe in abortion, however, I also believe it is a woman’s right to make that decision, especially in situations regarding teen pregnancy, financial hardships, rape, and incest. The following paragraphs will describe these circumstances in greater detail, supporting why I support pro choice abortion rights.…