JJ Thomson and the Violinist:
Judith Jarvis Thompson provides the violinist thought experiment as proof that abortion in some circumstances is morally justifiable, even if the fetus is a human person. Thus she makes the claim that killing innocent persons is sometimes justifiable. Thompson begins by postulating that the fetus is a human, thus declaring common ground with pro-lifers in an attempt to undermine their position. She draws an analogy between pregnancy and the situation of a woman whose vitals were attached in her sleep to those of a dying violinist. When she wakes up, Thompson asks, does the patient have the right to unhook the violinist and end his life? Thompson asserts that she does on the grounds that he “threatens her bodily autonomy.” Thompson also brings in the thought experiment of ‘human seeds’ to push her argument further.
If you agree with Thompson in the specific case of the violinist, it follows you must agree with her that a pregnant woman has a similar right to “unhook” herself from her unborn child. So do you?
Also include “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Jarvis Thomson.