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Abortion Essay Thomson Article

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A Regrettably Inadequate Defence of Abortion

This essay shall examine and critique Judith Jarvis Thomson’s analogy of the sickly violinist, as it relates to the moral permissibility of abortion. I shall conclude that the analogy is ultimately too dissimilar from a general case of abortion to be an accurate representation of the mother-foetus relationship. I will further conclude that at best the analogy only provides justification for abortion in cases of rape, and when a developing foetus becomes a threat to the mother’s life.

The Impermissibility Argument

Much of the debate concerning the permissibility of abortion surrounds the notion of ‘personhood’, specifically whether a developing foetus qualifies as such a being. Opponents of abortion expend much energy arguing for the conferring of personhood to the moment of conception, whilst the proponents argue this would be a misclassification. One would not call a pinecone a pine tree; to label a foetus as a person is similarly inappropriate (Thomson: Page 47). Thomson argues this tact distracts from the primary concern of abortion, for even if one grants that a foetus is a person, one’s work is still ahead of them to argue against the permissibility of abortion (Thomson: Page 48). The argument runs as follows:
P1: As a person, the foetus has the right to life.
P2: As a person, the woman has the right of autonomy concerning her own body.
P3: The right to life is more important than the right to autonomy over one’s body.
Therefore,
C1: Abortion is impermissible as the right to life of the foetus outweigh a woman’s right of autonomy concerning her body.

The Sickly Violinist

In response to this argument, Thomson developed a thought experiment known as the ‘Sickly Violinist’: You have been kidnapped by a Society of Music Lovers, and upon waking have found yourself to be surgically attached to a

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