Abortion

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the issue of abortion from the point of view of Judith Jarvis Thomson, found in her article "A Defense of Abortion." It discusses the issue by describing Thomson's hypothetical situation where a woman is essentially tethered to a famous violinist, who lives off the woman's organs. The paper argues against the logic used in Thomson's analogy, while still proposing that there may be circumstances where abortion should be legitimate.

From the Paper:

"Perhaps we can all agree that no unborn baby ever reaches adult size and that, in many pregnancies, the baby's size does not become a significant obstruction until the very late stages of the pregnancy. In fact, at the six-month mark a typical fetus will only weigh about a pound and a half (Battle, 1982). And, certainly, pregnant women can be quite active. Many pregnant women exercise and even travel well into their pregnancies. The body has a natural mechanism for storing and carrying an unborn baby. And while we may all agree that carrying a nine-pound baby inside one's womb is not a simple task, we can also agree that the baby is not nine pounds for the vast majority of the pregnancy and that it is still a much easier task than having a grown adult plugged into one's kidneys. The situations, quite simply, are not analogous."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Battle, Karen (1982). "Nine months in six weeks." Retrieved Nov. 13, 2006 from the Web site for the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute at http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1982/7/82.07.09.x.html.
• Thomson, Judith Jarvis (1971). "A defense of abortion." Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 47. Retrieved Nov. 13, 2006 from http://www.utdallas.edu/~jfg021000/thomson.html.

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• Analytical Essay # 70587 : "The Abortion Debate"
• Persuasive Essay # 67133 : "Abortion Is Not a Legal Issue"

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