In her well-known article "A Defense of Abortion", Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is in some circumstances permissible even if the embryo is a person and has a right to life, because the embryo's right to life is overtrumped by the woman's right to control her body and its life-support functions. Her central argument involves a thought experiment. Imagine, Thomson says, that you wake up in bed next to a famous violinist. He is unconscious with a fatal kidney ailment; and because only you happen to have the right blood type to help, the Society of Music Lovers has kidnapped you and plugged your circulatory system into his so that your kidneys can filter poisons from his blood as well as your own. If he is disconnected from you now, he will die; but in nine months he will recover and can be safely disconnected. Thomson takes it that you may permissibly unplug yourself from the violinist even though this will kill him. The right to life, Thomson says, does not entail the right to use another person's body, and so in disconnecting the violinist you do not violate his right to life but merely deprive him of something—the use of your body—to which he has no right. Similarly, even if the fetus has a right to life, it does not have a right to use the pregnant woman's body and life-support functions against her will; and so aborting the pregnancy is permissible in at least some circumstances. However, Thomson notes that the woman's right to abortion does not include the right to directly insist upon the death of the child, should the fetus happen to be viable, that is, capable of surviving outside the womb."All the same, I agree that the desire for the child's death is not one which anybody may gratify, should it turn out to be possible to detach the child alive." in Thomson's A Defense of Abortion. Other critics claim that there is a difference between artificial and extraordinary means of preservation, such as medical treatment, kidney dialysis, and blood transfusions, and normal and natural means of preservation, such as gestation, childbirth, and breastfeeding. They argue that if a baby was born into an environment in which there was no replacement available for her mother's breast milk, and the baby would either breastfeed or starve, the mother would have to allow the baby to breastfeed. But the mother would never have to give the baby a blood transfusion, no matter what the circumstances were. The difference between breastfeeding in that scenario and blood transfusions is the difference between gestation and childbirth on the one hand, and using your body as a kidney dialysis machine on the other.G Koukl & S Klusendorf, "Making Abortion Unthinkable: The Art of Pro-Life Persuasion" STR Press, California (2001) p. 86.Bernard Nathanson & Richard Ostling "Aborting America". Double Day & Company, Inc.: Garden City, 1979 ()John Arthur 'The Unfinished Constitution: Philosophy and Constitutional Practice', Wadsworth, 1989, p198-200.
In her well-known article "A Defense of Abortion", Judith Jarvis Thomson argues that abortion is in some circumstances permissible even if the embryo is a person and has a right to life, because the embryo's right to life is overtrumped by the woman's right to control her body and its life-support functions. Her central argument involves a thought experiment. Thomson asks us to imagine that an individual (call Bob) wakes up in bed next to a famous violinist. He is unconscious with a fatal kidney ailment; and because only Bob happens to have the right blood type to help, the Society of Music Lovers has kidnapped Bob and plugged his circulatory system into the violinist's so that Bob's kidneys can filter poisons from his blood as well as his own. If the violinist is disconnected from Bob now, he will die; but in nine months he will recover and can be safely disconnected. Thomson takes it that ome may permissibly unplug oneself from the violinist even though this will kill him. The right to life, Thomson says, does not entail the right to use another person's body, and so in disconnecting the violinist one does not violate his right to life but merely deprives him of something—the use of another person's body—to which he has no right. Similarly, even if the fetus has a right to life, it does not have a right to use the pregnant woman's body and life-support functions against her will; and so aborting the pregnancy is permissible in at least some circumstances. However, Thomson notes that the woman's right to abortion does not include the right to directly insist upon the death of the child, should the fetus happen to be viable, that is, capable of surviving outside the womb."All the same, I agree that the desire for the child's death is not one which anybody may gratify, should it turn out to be possible to detach the child alive." in Thomson's A Defense of Abortion. Other critics claim that there is a difference between artificial and extraordinary means of preservation, such as medical treatment, kidney dialysis, and blood transfusions, and normal and natural means of preservation, such as gestation, childbirth, and breastfeeding. They argue that if a baby was born into an environment in which there was no replacement available for her mother's breast milk, and the baby would either breastfeed or starve, the mother would have to allow the baby to breastfeed. But the mother would never have to give the baby a blood transfusion, no matter what the circumstances were. The difference between breastfeeding in that scenario and blood transfusions is the difference between gestation and childbirth on the one hand, and using one's body as a kidney dialysis machine on the other.G Koukl & S Klusendorf, "Making Abortion Unthinkable: The Art of Pro-Life Persuasion" STR Press, California (2001) p. 86.Bernard Nathanson & Richard Ostling "Aborting America". Double Day & Company, Inc.: Garden City, 1979 ()John Arthur 'The Unfinished Constitution: Philosophy and Constitutional Practice', Wadsworth, 1989, p198-200.
R
Imagine, Thomson says, that you wake
Thomson asks us to imagine that an individual (call Bob) wakes
R
you happen
Bob happens
R
you and plugged your
Bob and plugged his
R
his so that your
the violinist's so that Bob's
R
your
his
R
he
the violinist
R
you
Bob
R
you
ome
R
yourself
oneself
R
you do
one does
R
deprive
deprives
R
your
another person's
R
your
one's