preview

A Defense of Abortion Essay

Decent Essays

A Defense of Abortion In her argument on abortion, Judith Thomson discusses some major points about abortion. She deals with extreme cases and those extreme cases help us to realize a single perspective of abortion. For example, she talks about the violinist attached to you. In that example, you keep everything constant and focus on a single point, violinist being dead if you unattached him. This way of thinking would provide partial answers. That is, in real life moral issues are combined of different extreme cases. This is where the flaw in her argument is. Her argument misses out the fact that such extreme cases do not occur alone. They occur in interconnection with other extreme cases. To …show more content…

However, you have an emotional attachment to your baby. Furthermore, you do not have the responsibility of looking after the violinist. Yet, it is your duty to look after your baby. As Kant suggests, if you act according to your duty, you will be acting morally. Therefore, when you look after your child you are doing the right thing. Remember the distinction between good and right is huge. Doing the right thing might cause bad things, or vice versa. Moving with the violinist example, she suggests that the violinist is innocent. Well, I am not a devil too. I am innocent as well. If giving birth will risk my life, the theme of innocence is irrelevant. Rather, the will should be relevant here. As Kant suggests, what determines an action's morality is the will behind it. In order to perform the right action, one must have a good will. The good will here would be giving birth. However, this is a coin with two sides. What about mother's life? She will die if she gives birth. Sacrificing the mother or the child? In this case the mother should act in accordance with good will and give birth to her child, even if it means risking her life. Therefore, even with the mother risking her life we are moving with a single conclusion; mother should give birth. Last but not least, she talks about fetus being a human being. Even though this seems

Get Access