Abortion should be made illigal

The BoP is on Pro. Definition:Abortion = The deliberate termination of a pregnancy, usually before the embryo or fetus is capable of independent life. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will start this debate with Judith Jarvis Thomson’s (1929 - ) thought experiment: Imagine that you wake up in the morning and find yourself back to back in bed with an unconscious violinist. A famous unconscious violinist. He has been found to have a fatal kidney ailment, and the Society of Music Lovers has canvassed all the available medical records and found that you alone have the right blood type to help. They have therefore kidnapped you, and last night the violinist's circulatory system was plugged into yours, so that your kidneys can be used to extract poisons from his blood as well as your own. The director of the hospital now tells you, "Look, we're sorry the Society of Music Lovers did this to you—we would never have permitted it if we had known. But still, they did it, and the violinist is now plugged into you. To unplug you, would be to kill him. But never mind, it's only for nine months. By then, he will have recovered from his ailment, and can safely be unplugged from you. Should you be allowed to unplug yourself? The thought experiment should imply that the human right to life can be trumped by a woman’s right to control her own body, when these two rights clash. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Women should have the right to decide what to do with their bodies. 1. Rape: “The crime of forcing another person to have sexual intercourse with the offender against their will. ” This fits perfectly with J. J. Thomson’s analogy, the woman does not choose to become pregnant, much like you not choosing to start providing life support to the violinist in the analogy. So, if you should have the right to unplug yourself, a woman should also have the right to abort the rapist’s (and her) child. Additionally, mothers of children, that were conceived in rape, may have difficulty accepting the child which could lead to further problems in the child’s upbringing and its relationship with its mother [1]. 2. The right of pregnant women to have their health protected: Here is an example of just some of the many possible complications of pregnancy [2]: 1. Gestational diabetes 2. Hyperemesis gravidarum 3. Pelvic girdle pain 4. High blood pressure 5. Deep vein thrombosis 6. Anemia 7. Infection 8. Peripartum cardiomyopathy 9. Hypothyroidism 10. Intrauterine bleeding Women should have the right to protect their own body and well-being from suffering harm. 3. Banning abortions doesn’t actually stop women from having abortions: - Abortion rates are similar in countries where it is legal and those where it is not [3]. - According to the W. H. O. Department of Reproductive Health and Research, “illegal abortions are likely to be unsafe, performed by poorly trained providers. ” [3]. - “The procedure was made legal in South Africa in 1996, leading to a 90 percent decrease in mortality among women who had abortions, some studies have found. ” [3] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conclusion: Prohibiting abortions would not actually prevent them from happening, it would just lead to an increase in mortality among women who have abortions. Additionally, it would conflict with a woman’s right to control and protect their own body. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sources: [1]: Supranational Criminal Prosecution of Sexual Violence p. 144 [2]: . https://en.wikipedia.org... [3]: . http://www.nytimes.com...