Jane English's Arguments Against Abortion

The Moderate position by Jane English, argues that there is no sharp line that determines what a person is and what a person is not. She claims that the two most popular positions within the abortion debate are mistaken. English digs into both the liberal and conservative sides of the argument and gives opposing argument to both views. English also overlooks the self-defense model from the women’s point of view. Another point English brings up is the consideration of non-persons in our moral codes. After reading the article English has managed to change some of my views and thoughts on abortion and to which I agree with her views. English first mentions that liberal and conservative sides of the argument are too strong. Liberals are pro-abortion and do not see the fetus as a person until birth, therefore a woman may do whatever she pleases to her own body. As for the conservatives, they are against abortion because the fetus is a person, considerably at conception. English claims, if a fetus is a person, abortion is still justifiable and if the fetus is not a person, killing it is still wrong in many cases. English doesn’t pick a side for either of these two parties but instead she claims fetuses lie somewhere at the margins where the concept of a person is not so simple, a

She explains the self-defense model in the woman’s point of view who is attacked by hypnotized innocent people, known as the fetus. “To fend off an attack whose outcome would be as serious as rape, a severe beating or loss of a finger, you may shoot…” (English 810), here abortion is permissible because it is threatening the woman’s well-being, mental and physical health. “...to avoid having your clothes torn, you may blacken an eye.” (English 810), self-defense can be justified depending on the severity. In this case English finds abortion permissible in the case of self-defense for the woman’s mental and physical