2) Abortion. What is Judith Jarvis Thomson’s position on abortion?

How does she argue for

that position? Describe Don Marquis’s argument that abortion is unethical. What are some
potential issues with either view? How might the authors respond to these criticisms?

What is Judith Jarvis Thomson’s position on abortion ?

- even if it is granted that a fetus is a person, abortion is still morally permissible under
some circumstances.
- Every person has the right to live
- Talks about three cases
- 1. Mother will die if she carries her baby to term because of a cardiac
condition she has
- Says its not murder if u do something to save your life
- Just because a third party says they cant do anything doesnt
mean u cant either
- Both are innocent: the one who is threatened is not threatened
because of any fault, the one who threatens does not threaten
because of any fault. For this reason we may feel that we
bystanders cannot intervene. But the person threatened can.
- she imagines that you have been kidnapped by the Society of
Music Lovers, who have plugged a violinist with failing kidneys
into your circulatory system; it is the only way of saving the
violinist’s life. The violinist is a person, and has a right to life;
nevertheless, Thomson says, it is morally permissible for you
to unplug the violinist.
- 2. Woman has the right to decide what happens in and to her body.
- 3. Dont owe the fetus your body
Describe Don Marquis’s argument that abortion is unethical.
- He says it is wrong because it is an act of killing a being with a right to life and killing
a being with a right to life is seriously morally wrong because it robs such a being of
its future--a future, in particular, of great value like ours.