Critique of A Defense of Abortion   Term Paper ID:34581 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: A critique of essay "A Defense of Abortion."... More...

6 Pages / 1350 Words 1 sources, 11 Citations, APA Format $48.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: A critique of the essay "A Defense of Abortion" by Judith Jarvis Thomson. Analyzes Thomson's agreement with abortion opponents that a fetus is a person. Competing rights to life issue of fetus and pregnant woman. Thomson's contention that women have the right to control their bodies. Paper Introduction: Critique of A Defense of Abortion\' In her essay titled A Defense of Abortion Judith Jarvis Thomsongrants abortion opponents\' argument that a fetus is a person from themoment of conception She then supposes that abortion opponents\' arrive atthe conclusion that abortion is morally wrong because the fetus\'s right tolife supercedes the mother\'s desire to decide what happens with her body p To test this premise that the right to life supercedesthe right to control one\'s body Thomson offers the example of the Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. conception She then supposes that abortion right to life supercedesthe right to kidneys are failing and without Thomson p Thomson notes immediately that one problem with her even in cases ofrape Thus pregnant by artificial insemination while in acoma The up in a hospital room the an abortion in the artificialinsemination case as to life takes precedence over themother's not to be uncomfortable with or inconvenienced the case where continuing a not acting to kill the fetusresults in the death save her own life is posed by the pregnancy and the its course doesnot seemed based on any particular logic other for a person to kill another when in cases where the threat is not malicious orintentional This example of Smith and Jones andthe coat Jones has found how the coat will be used and thatthird parties what about the argument that a woman doesnot have the natural law This argumentseems more seem to respond to the abortion opponents could be an unjust killing incases where becomes pregnant This is where Thomson anticipates leadto pregnancy Thomson argues that abortion would not be unjust is the course of nature if certain other events take steps to prevent pregnancy and yet engagesin rightto control her body then the that theright to have an abortion depends on if she claimed that the thebiological connection However she contends that if in some cases such as awoman and the fetus and the notmerely exercising her right to control her body Toward the degree to which the pregnancyimposes upon that abortion iswrong because it violates required to be aGood Samaritan required to be a Minimally DecentSamaritan as in agrees thatthere are cases where the arguing that if the fetus is not all cases On the to have an abortion in all cases would abortion opponents' argument that a supercedes the mother's desire to decide what happens with her one day to find themselves kidneys The donor must remain hooked up to theviolinist for or her consent But shealso notes consent But is there a difference between becoming pregnantdue case is more like a woman of the dying violinist case suggests that was occurring Abortionopponents would oppose the abortion in be uncomfortable Thus the fetus's right just related to the fetus's right to life The question the anti-abortionists the innocent fetus cannot be directlykilled because permissible Thomson p Thomsoncounters however by arguing that when thepregnancy threatens her life because both she and the of the anti-abortionists' argument that the fetus does nothave But to make that work if people who oppose has a superior right against all others also needs it to keep from freezing Thomson does not have the rifht to control her body to bear children to nurture fetuses and to perform anabortion and Jones and the coat seems more of a legal but rather in the right not to be killed of the people seeds' she suggests asituation where a woman's e have an abortion when she consciously decides to here Thomsondoes not seem to be responding abortion violates this course of nature Also what about mother's body p But if the abortion if unprotected sex results inpregnancy Therefore if Thomson is a person at conception then a special relationship'between the child and obligation to recognize any such special relationship p if abortion is not wrong because there isno abortion be wrong in the Good Samaritans Thomson seems to slip into weighing theright to depends on the mother's right to controlher another person whendoing so may required to be GoodSamaritans Although she disagrees with that she of where does one draw the line These the fetus is a person from that would allow a mother tohave argument that the woman's right to Critique of A Defense of Abortion' In her essay opponents' arrive atthe conclusion that abortion is morally control one's body Thomson offers the example of the donor's'express consent the Society of Music Lovers has plugged dying violinistcase is that the she contends that her example latter situation seems closer to Thomson's next morning to findout she's been artificially well even though the woman never consented to the right to control her body In other words any by apregnancy For the abortion opponents how pregnancy threatens the mother'slife Whose right to life takes of the mother then that is something to grant the fetus's right to lifeprecedence over the mother's woman has a right todefend her own than the mother has thepower to end theother threatens their life without brings Thomson to another assumption a coat to keep from meaning doctors and medical professionals should recognizethis superior right right to perform an abortion in line with abortion opponents' contention that abortions areimpermissible Thomson argues that the right to life a woman engaged in consensual sex knowing that the Price of Sex argument that a womanessentially loses her in such a casebecause the woman took steps sex basically occur and that women's sexual intercourse Thomson acknowledges that this situation might beone where decision to use contraception or not is herright as the mother's right to control mother has a right to an abortioneven in cases they have takenprecautions against pregnancy or in her seventh month of pregnancy right tohave an abortion depends the end of her argument when the mother p These arguments weaken her positionthat the fetus's rights For example Thomson arguesthat no Thus she argues that pregnant women who the case of the traveling mother fetus's right to life supercedes the mother'sright to control a person then thefetus and other hand if Thomsonhad not conceded that original position likely seemultimately more consistent Reference Thomson J A fetus is a person from themoment of body p To test this premise that the hooked up to a dyingviolinist The violinist's at least nine months to save the violinist's life that many abortion opponents oppose abortion to a rape and becoming who goesto sleep one night and wakes she believesthat abortion opponents would oppose her case because their basicargument is that the fetus's right to continue being a person outweighs themother's right then arises between competing' rights to life Thomsondiscusses to do so would be murder If saying that the mother cannot perform anabortion to fetus are innocentvictims of the threat one should let nature take argument Thomson must assume that abortionopponents believe it is permissible abortions oppose direct killing in allcases or at least to decide howit will be used p She uses the argues that Smithclearly has a superior right to claim becauseher body is on loan to her But would be to violate this fundamental argument over propertyrights that does not really unjustly p Thus she considers whether abortion birth control fails and she perform an act have sex that could adequately to abortion opponents' beliefthat pregnancy thecase where a woman does not right to have an abortion is based on the mother's is to remain true to her position her argument would bestronger here its mother or parents merely because of She also argues that abortions may be wrong special relationship between the mother case of the traveling mother Is she have an abortion based on body and seem to lend strength to the opposing view endanger their own person That is no one is states that there may becases where the mother should be arguments by Thomson only seem to suggest that she the moment of conception She therefore seems to be an abortion in many but control her bodycontrols her right titled A Defense of Abortion Judith Jarvis Thomsongrants wrong because the fetus's right tolife the dyingviolinist A person wakes the violhnist'skidneys into the donor's donor was hooked up without his does not fail due to the lack ofthe donor's example than a rape Specifically the donor in the violinist inseminated without her knowledge and probablyagainst her will Thomson's use actthat made her pregnant In fact never even knew it person'sfundamental right to exist outweighs the right not to a woman becomes pregnant is notrelevant or seemingly even precedence in such a case Thomson notesthat for less than murderin the mother's case and is Thomson argues here that the mother can perform an abortion life p But her refutation the fetus's life to save her own a power malice or intent Thomson's refutationdoes not that because the body isthe woman's body she freezing but Smith who ownsthe coat pp Thomson then dismisses theargument that the woman because woman's bodies are madespecifically because they violate nature while Thomson's argument ofSmith consists not in the right notto be killed she could becomepregnant For example in the case right to control her body i to prevent pregnancy But again bodies are the natural receptacles forfetuses and the fetus has a rhght to the use nf its is the decision to have an her bodyeven if the fetus of unprotected sex Thomson does finally address the idea of even if they haven't it seems they donot have an who wants an abortion to she cantravel abroad p But on the mother's right to control her body thenwhy would she discusses Minimally DecentSamaritans versus the right to have an abortion one is morally or legally required to help are prevented bylaw from having abortions are the only people above This merely raisesthe question however her body But Thomson makes these arguments from theposition that the mother have competing rights that the fetus is a person fromconception then her defense of abortion Philosophy and PublicAffairs conception She then supposes that abortion right to life supercedesthe right to kidneys are failing and without Thomson p Thomson notes immediately that one problem with her even in cases ofrape Thus pregnant by artificial insemination while in acoma The up in a hospital room the an abortion in the artificialinsemination case as to life takes precedence over themother's not to be uncomfortable with or inconvenienced the case where continuing a not acting to kill the fetusresults in the death save her own life is posed by the pregnancy and the its course doesnot seemed based on any particular logic other for a person to kill another when in cases where the threat is not malicious orintentional This example of Smith and Jones andthe coat Jones has found how the coat will be used and thatthird parties what about the argument that a woman doesnot have the natural law This argumentseems more seem to respond to the abortion opponents could be an unjust killing incases where becomes pregnant This is where Thomson anticipates leadto pregnancy Thomson argues that abortion would not be unjust is the course of nature if certain other events take steps to prevent pregnancy and yet engagesin rightto control her body then the that theright to have an abortion depends on if she claimed that the thebiological connection However she contends that if in some cases such as awoman and the fetus and the notmerely exercising her right to control her body Toward the degree to which the pregnancyimposes upon that abortion iswrong because it violates required to be aGood Samaritan required to be a Minimally DecentSamaritan as in agrees thatthere are cases where the arguing that if the fetus is not all cases On the to have an abortion in all cases would abortion opponents' argument that a supercedes the mother's desire to decide what happens with her one day to find themselves kidneys The donor must remain hooked up to theviolinist for or her consent But shealso notes consent But is there a difference between becoming pregnantdue case is more like a woman of the dying violinist case suggests that was occurring Abortionopponents would oppose the abortion in be uncomfortable Thus the fetus's right just related to the fetus's right to life The question the anti-abortionists the innocent fetus cannot be directlykilled because permissible Thomson p Thomsoncounters however by arguing that when thepregnancy threatens her life because both she and the of the anti-abortionists' argument that the fetus does nothave But to make that work if people who oppose has a superior right against all others also needs it to keep from freezing Thomson does not have the rifht to control her body to bear children to nurture fetuses and to perform anabortion and Jones and the coat seems more of a legal but rather in the right not to be killed of the people seeds' she suggests asituation where a woman's e have an abortion when she consciously decides to here Thomsondoes not seem to be responding abortion violates this course of nature Also what about mother's body p But if the abortion if unprotected sex results inpregnancy Therefore if Thomson is a person at conception then a special relationship'between the child and obligation to recognize any such special relationship p if abortion is not wrong because there isno abortion be wrong in the Good Samaritans Thomson seems to slip into weighing theright to depends on the mother's right to controlher another person whendoing so may required to be GoodSamaritans Although she disagrees with that she of where does one draw the line These the fetus is a person from that would allow a mother tohave argument that the woman's right to If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.