Part 3

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A Defense of Abortion Summary

A defense of abortion is a philosophical essay written by Judith J Thomson, a philosopher in America, worked and studied metaphysics and ethics. A defense of abortion is an essay that is classed as a moral philosophy essay, and the year of publishing is 1971, by the department of public affairs and philosophy. In this topic, a summary of the essay will be given.

At the beginning of the essay, the author begins by analyzing whether a fetus can be termed as a human being from the moment of conception. Since there is a heated debate on abortion by different departments, Thomson gives a thoughtful idea that can be used to help determine if a fetus is a human being from conception. She compares this with an oak tree seed that is not called an oak tree when it is not fully developed into a tree. From how she reasons, it is clear that she thinks that a fetus is not human at conception. She agrees to it being human for the sake of argument.

From the point of anti-abortionists, a fetus is human from conception, and therefore they deserve the right to life. Thomson argues out using a thought experiment where she gives an example of the violinist being attached to one’s body without their consent. The conclusion she draws from this experiment is that if one allows the violinist to be attached to their body, no one would think they are morally committed to doing so. Thomson concludes that abortion is only allowed in cases of rape, but from an extreme view (opponents of abortion), everyone has a right to life regardless of the way they were conceived.

In an anti-abortionist side of view where the mother’s life is endangered, Thomson argues that abortion is permissible in cases where the mother’s life is in danger. She argues that in most cases, the mother of the child’s perspective is always ignored to consider whether a third party should be permitted to do abortions. In her experiments, she uses the example of the expanding child. The conclusion she draws from this is that nothing can prevent the woman from partaking in the procedure.

Since the issue of self-defense in abortion is well defended, Thomson turns to other probabilities to find out if abortion is right or wrong. Another argument that Thomson points out in her essay is that the right to life prohibits abortion, and yet there is no clear explanation of the right to life. She gives two definitions for the right to life. The first definition is that an individual being given minimal necessities to survive, and the second definition that it is not allowed to kill a human being. In her arguments, she finds loopholes in the second definition of life. She gives several thought experiments to figure out if the definition of the right of life makes abortion impossible.

Most people will buy the argument that it is not just to kill another human being unjustly, and Thomson critics this by saying that there is no just and unjust way of killing. The first definition of the right to life, according to the author, does not mean that a person is fully entitled to anything that they require for their survival and if it does, then they have no right to live. To disqualify the second definition of life, she argues that no one has the right to another person’s body unless the body’s owner gives them the right. Although abortion is permissible in some cases, it does not mean that it is allowed in all cases.