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Pro-choice vs pro-life debate
Pro life vs pro choice arguments
Pro life vs pro choice arguments
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Recommended: Pro-choice vs pro-life debate
Extreme conservatives would have abortion made illegal. If we outlaw abortion it would not stop women from having them
In “A Defense of Abortion” Judith Thomson does a good job of poking holes in the extreme conservative argument, she is a moderate liberal. Even though she is defending abortion she states there are still times when it is impermissible. . Her first analogy she compares a growing fetus to a famous violinist who has unknowingly been attached to a person’s circulatory system. Is the person morally responsible to remained attached to the violinist? Thomson says no, because the person was kidnapped and they didn’t volunteer for the violinist to be attached. Thomson states “it would be very nice of you if you did, a great kindness”. I agree with Thompson here no one should be forced to have a stranger plugged into them unknowingly for nine months. A growing fetus inside a woman is hardly a stranger to her it is her own flesh and blood. Secondly, a fetus is not unknowingly plugged into a woman Except for in the cases of rape no one was kidnapped or forced to have sex. When people have sex there is always a risk that the woman might get pregnant. I agree a woman has a right to her body but, I disagree with Thompson’s analogy of a violinist to a fetus.
She then speaks on the right to life, some say it is the right to not to be killed she says it is the right not to be killed unjustly. So when you unplug yourself from the violinist you are taking away his right to life. Thomson says you are not because you are not killing him unjustly. I agree, it is not your place to keeps
Extreme Conservatives would say that an abortion even to save the mother’s life would be impermissible. They have an equal right to life and an abortion would be killing the baby, and doing nothing would be letting the mother die. Thomson does an excellent job of arguing against the conservative point of view with the analogy of the rapidly growing child in a tiny house. Thomson asks us to suppose we are in a tiny house with a child who is growing rapidly and is going to crush us and he will simply bust out of the house and walk off unscratched.
Judith Jarvis Thomson, in "A Defense of Abortion", argues that even if we grant that fetuses have a fundamental right to life, in many cases the rights of the mother override the rights of a fetus. For the sake of argument, Thomson grants the initial contention that the fetus has a right to life at the moment of conception. However, Thomson explains, it is not self-evident that the fetus's right to life will always outweigh the mother's right to determine what goes on in her body. Thomson also contends that just because a woman voluntarily had intercourse, it does not follow that the fetus acquires special rights against the mother. Therefore, abortion is permissible even if the mother knows the risks of having sex. She makes her points with the following illustration. Imagine that you wake up one morning and find that you have been kidnapped, taken to a hospital, and a famous violist has been attached to your circulatory system. You are told that the violinist was ill and you were selected to be the host, in which the violinist will recover in nine months, but will die if disconnected from you before then. Clearly, Thomson argues, you are not morally required to continue being the host. In her essay she answers the question: what is the standard one has to have in order to be granted a right to life? She reflects on two prospects whether the right to life is being given the bare minimum to sustain life or ir the right to life is merely the right not to be killed. Thomson states that if the violinist has more of a right to life then you do, then someone should make you stay hooked up to the violinist with no exceptions. If not, then you should be free to go at a...
Thomson starts off her paper by explaining the general premises that a fetus is a person at conception and all persons have the right to life. One of the main premises that Thomson focuses on is the idea that a fetus’ right to life is greater than the mother’s use of her body. Although she believes these premises are arguable, she allows the premises to further her explanation of why abortion could be
...r (directly killing the baby in the womb or slitting the throat of the violinist). I believe the difference is very clear and therefore refutes Thompson's case of the unconscious violinist. This means that premise 4 still stands true.
To help argue her point, Thomson first begins with an analogy comparing an acorn of an oak tree to the fetus in a woman’s body. She begins by giving the view of the Pro – Lifers; “It is concluded that the fetus is…a person from the moment of conception” (page 113). She then goes on to say, “similar things might be said about the development of an acorn into an oak tree, and it does not follow that acorns are Oak trees…” (Page 113). This analogy helps illustrate how much she disagrees with this Pro –life argument. She calls it a “slippery- slope argument” and goes to say, “…it is dismaying that opponents of abortion rely on them so heavily and uncritically” (page 113). Although Thomson makes it clear that she disagrees with the notion that a fetus is a person (…I think the premise is false, that the fetus is not a person from th...
In her article Thomson starts off by giving antiabortionists the benefit of the doubt that fetuses are human persons. She adds that all persons have the right to life and that it is wrong to kill any person. Also she states that someone?s right to life is stronger than another person?s autonomy and that the only conflict with a fetuses right to life is a mother?s right to autonomy. Thus the premises make abortion impermissible. Then Thomson precedes to attacks the premise that one?s right to autonomy can be more important to another?s right to life in certain situations. She uses quite an imaginative story to display her point of view. Basically there is a hypothetical situation in which a very famous violinist is dying. Apparently the only way for the violinist to survive is to be ?plugged? into a particular woman, in which he could use her kidneys to continue living. The catch is that the Society of Music Lovers kidnapped this woman in the middle of the night in order to obtain the use of her kidneys. She then woke up and found herself connected to an unconscious violinist. This obviously very closely resembles an unwanted pregnancy. It is assumed that the woman unplugging herself is permissible even though it would kill the violinist. Leading to her point of person?s right to life is not always stronger than another person?s right to have control over their own body. She then reconstructs the initial argument to state that it is morally impermissible to abort a fetus if it has the right to life and has the right to the mother?s body. The fetus has the right to life but only has the right to a ...
Lee uses Atticus’ good nature and respect for people to promote the theme; being strong in one 's beliefs and honest sets a good example for society: “‘First of all,’ he spoke, ‘if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-,” (Lee 39) Atticus indicates. This quote shows how fair Atticus is, he try’s to understand other people in different situations. His advice is very true and is valid throughout the entire book, it could even be considered a theme on it’s own. Atticus’ quality of respect is very high and continues on into the trial further into the book which helps him during the case and helps Lee build to the theme: “‘Gentleman,’ he was saying ‘I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white,” (Lee 271) Atticus voices in his final words at the trial. Lee uses Atticus’ powerful personality to express her views to the readers. In Maycomb no one ever did anything that was against the majority, so when
Another basic argument she claims is that the mother also has a right to decide what happens in and to her body but the fetus 's right to live outweighs the mother’s right to decide what happens in and to her body. Therefore, Thomson opposes abortion and claims that a fetus may not be killed unjustly and an abortion may not be performed. Whether the unborn person uses of its mother’s body, because the un-born person has a right to live and use its mother’s body, abortion is unjust killing per Thomson.
Thomson’s argument is presented in three components. The first section deals with the now famous violinist thought experiment. This experiment presents a situation in which you wake up one morning and discover you have been kidnapped and hooked up to an ailing violinist so that his body would have the use of your kidneys for the next nine months. The intuitive and instinctive reaction to this situation is that you have no moral duty to remain hooked up to the violinist, and more, that he (or the people who kidnapped you) does not have the right to demand the use of your body for this period. From a deontological point of view, it can be seen that in a conflict between the right of life of the fetus and the right to bodily integrity of the mother, the mother’s rights will trump those of the fetus. Thomson distills this by saying “the right to life consists not in the right not to be killed, but rather in the right not to be killed unjustly”.
“On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion” by Mary Anne Warren is an in depth analysis of what, in Warren’s opinion, is exactly what defines a person and human being, the moral community, fetal development and the right to life, potential personhood and the right to life, and infanticide. Warren believes that emotion and morality should be entirely separate, and that abortion should be legal for all women, as denial would strip women of basic human rights, the rights that a woman holds over an unborn fetus. I personally agree with her arguments on these topics as I agree that women should be allowed to have abortions on their own terms, without subjection of authority or society telling her what she can and cannot do, as well as I agree for the most part on her view of what a person is, potential personhood not outweighing the choice of abortion, and her reasoning on what defines a person in the moral community. Warren insists that the “moral” sense of human and “genetic” sense of human must be kept separate in this observation. As she defines the two, she goes on to say that the confusion of the two “results in a slide of meaning, which serves to conceal the fallaciousness of the traditional argument that since (1) it is wrong to kill innocent human beings, and (2) fetuses are innocent human beings, then (3) it is wrong to kill fetuses.
The author Don Marquis wants to prove that abortion is immoral without taking into consideration extreme cases, while Thomson says that abortion is justified in some cases. Clearly killing is so wrong but Marquis argument avoids the ambiguity of why abortion happened. I strongly believe that it is not fair to compare a fetus’ life with an adult. Marquis 's ethical approach is general, because he says that abortion is ethically similar to committing a crime by killing somebody. While Thompson supports her arguments by saying that abortion is justified in cases such as rape and when the mother 's life, which is the most important here, is in danger. I agree that everyone has the right to life and it is immoral and so unethical to deprive that right from anyone. However, abortion is justified in some cases, which is the best possible option available for the mother. I strongly believe that ethics and religion plays a vital role in making such a decision because abortion is forbidding in some religions such as Islam, abortion is not acceptable after eight weeks of pregnancy. Another possible reason why abortion can’t be performed is because of the law of some countries such as Egypt that reject abortion and consider it as a crime that a mother might face some time in prison. So there are a lot more into this argument that needs more
The process of fracking is very simple. Around 800 gallons of water is used as the base of what is called fracking fluid. Along with this, sand and 600 toxic chemicals are used to create the fluid. The fluid is then transported from a manufacturing plant to the site. It is then injected at high pressures into the ground through dilled pipelines. The fluid contains chemicals that keep these pipes from rusting over time. The fluid then reaches a well where it causes the nearby shale rock to fracture. This releases any trapped fuel in the rocks. Gravity and pressure is then used to force the fluid out of the pipes back to the surface. The fluid is then taken and left it large holes to evaporate. This causes release of chemicals and also leakage into ground water (Dangers of Fracking).
Thompson uses analogies to provide evidence that a fetus does not have a right to a women’s body. Just as one would not require a women to let a famous violinist use her body to live, one should expect the same treatment for a fetus. Having a baby is a huge sacrifice for a women and it should not be a moral requirement to have to take on such a responsibility.
In Thomson’s “A Defense on Abortion,” she presents her pro-choice argument which is mainly supported by analogies called the violinist analogy, burglar analogy and the people seeds analogy. Firstly, she begins her argument with speaking about whether or not a fetus is a person from conception. This is the use of a pro- life argument that relates to a fetus being a person and how killing a person is wrong; therefore, killing a fetus is wrong. She willingly admits why she partially agrees with the premise of the fetus being a person. It is a belief that a human being has a right to life and if the fetus is a human being that means that the fetus also has a right to life. In Thomson’s argument, she is not arguing to disprove
This slide describes how H.G. Wells’ novel The Time Machine became the most prominent story about time travel. I think this is important because as the most vital time travel story, it created many of the time travel elements we know today. The questions of what will happen if we meet ourselves in the past and the “butterfly effect” could only be answered through the use of a fiction story. However, these questions may become a reality someday and it is best to think about them before the advent of time travel brings about the end of the world as we know
The qualitative research method involves analysing data, such as words, pictures or objects. It is more subjective, and requires the researcher to interpret data in order to form thematic ideas. Quantitative research can gather a large amount of data that can be easily organised and manipulated into reports for analysis. It often includes one to one interview. It utilises open- ended questions. This means that the researcher has to interpret their findings. Moreover, in qualitative research is used to generate hypotheses and develop an understanding about a particular group that uses words and images rather that numbers. That being said, a qualitative research focuses on a smaller sample group to help find a deeper analysis