Abortion

Order Description

In “A Defense of Abortion” Judith Jarvis Thompson claims that granting personhood and, hence, a right to life, to a fetus neither entails the exceptionless
impermissibility of abortion (the extreme view) nor the more moderate view that restricts the impermissibility of abortions to cases where the mother’s life is not
threatened. Both claims, according to Thompson, require additional dubious premises. In the case where a mother’s life is threatened, as mothers are also persons with
rights to life, additional premises are required to promote the rights of the infant over those of the mother, especially because it seems a mother has an additional
right to her own body. Pumping our intuitions with various thought experiments including cases of killing versus letting die Thompson suggests that the additional
premises cannot be made out. In cases where a mother’s life is not threatened the questions turn to what the right to life entails and whether and when one can obtain
rights to another’s body. Again using thought experiments (e.g. pod people) Thompson suggests that ultimately the right to life only entails the right not to be killed
unjustly and at best only some cases involving voluntary acts are candidates for prohibition. In an attempt to better explain her considered views on the harder cases
Thompson also introduces us to the contrast between a moral right and moral decency and the good and minimally decent Samaritan. Utilizing some/all the concepts in
bold face write a thesis essay for a general reader that outlines how some concerns over abortion remain even putting aside the issue of personhood. Make sure to lay
out the parameters of the debate such that: 1) You give a general reader a reason to care; 2) You provide a clear presentation of the sources of the underlying moral
tension; 3) You offer a clearly identifiable thesis; 4) You offer reasons in support of your specific position by showing how it is related to more general
underwriting moral principles; and, 5) You defend your view from at least one serious challenge.