Thomson's Arguments Against Abortion

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Judith Jarvis Thomson and Rosalind Hursthouse have opposing opinions in regards to what the central issue is when it comes to abortion. Thomson is right in her claim that the central issue when it comes to abortion is the pregnant woman’s obligations in the dace of the fetus’s right to life.

Thomson explains that it is hard to draw the line when it comes to the development of the fetus- in terms of when an abortion should be performed and when it shouldn’t. When does a fetus become an actual human person? Those who are opposed to abortion explain that a fetus is a person, but fail to explain how that makes abortion morally impermissible. According to some who are opposed to abortion, a fetus is a person for the moment of conception- and because …show more content…
Some people who oppose abortion make exceptions when the pregnancy is due to rape. But with that logic, does that mean that people only have a right to life if they came into existence because of rape? It seems that some have less of a right to life than others do- those who are a product of rape seem to have less of a right.

One argument of Thomson’s, in particular, stands out in terms of proving her point. She starts off by stating the known fact that depriving someone of what they have a right to is an example of unjust treatment. The right to life only consists of the right not to be killed unjustly. If someone is not killed unjustly, then their right to life is not being violated- and the killing is not considered to be unjust. This brings forth a gap in a common argument against abortion- can abortion really be considered unjust if we do not know for certain that killing the fetus is violating its right to life?Knowing that the fetus is a person, and that all people have the right to life, is not enough to prove this point. For example, in the case of rape, the mother does not give the unborn child “permission” to use her body for nutrients and shelter- therefore, the …show more content…
Because those children do not have the right to their mothers’ bodies, an abortion is not depriving them of anything. In that case, because they are not being deprived of anything, then the killing is not unjust. Therefore, abortion can be justified, regardless of whether the child was a product of rape or not. Abortion can be justified by the arguments Thomson puts forth in her article (among various others that were not brought up,) therefore it should be permitted- and not just in the instances of
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