28 cueren 1; azonrion ‘Questions ig. 3 IfMarquis's basic approach is accepted, which abors jsciiew? A Defense of Abortion! Judith Jarvis Thomson but, as I think, We are asked to notice Philosophy and Pattie versiy Press, Rep ‘OmABTER 1; ABORTION 29 point the thing isnot a person, aft ice, acho) concluded am inclined to agree, however, thatthe prospects for “drawing « line” development of the fetus took dim. Tam inclined to think also that we shall proba: bly have to agree thatthe fetus has already became a human person wel befos Indeed, it comes asa surprise when one first Jeams how early in s. By the tenth week, for example ingers and loes;ithas internal orgaas, and brain act fetectable? ink thatthe premise is false, thatthe fetus is no a person from mn. A newly fe ized ovum, a newly implanted clump of ak tee. But Is ty of abortion. P le and obvious to require much comm is stronger and more string her body, and so outweigh: 7 performed. moming and fi famous unconseic the Society of Music Lovers has canvass found that you you, and ‘your kidneys can be used 0 extrac poi director of the hospi30 cuaprens: azoRmion i accede this sation? No Cut Kindness: Budo you ave te sere Yeas? Or longer il? What ft Butyou've nom goto sayin bed Youre Because ronamtes eng denons Granted you havea ight to decide wha ape fess igh outweigh yu bath Soyou camorcver ours uestion of whether you have aright, Mat tutto the question of whether or not you are the produc of a rape the ground I mentioned do not make st make an exception in ease of rape, ake an exception for a case in which the mother has to spend the bed. They would agree that would be a reat fea make an exception for a casein which continuation ofthe preg- {o shorten the mother's life: they regard abortion as impermis ont of anette mother’s life. Such cass are nowadays very rare, and many oppo Dther than the mother's o ‘an abortion? ‘This argument treats the righ Seems to me to be precisely the so For we should nom, some views having ae UeTER: AgoATION gt h of Henry Fonda’s coo! hand on my fevered brow. rice of him to fy in from the West Coast to provid f my friends flew out to the Fonda back with them. But have no right s for me. Or agaia, continued use of your kidneys. Fi ess you give him such a right; and nobody hs the give him ths right—if you do allow him to go on this isa kindness on your part, and not something he can ve. Nor has he any right against anybody else right against us kidneys. [ The di nection with account of right is have a right to life does not guarantee ha allowed continued use of82 cePres 5: ABORTION CMPTER ABORTION 33 So the right to life wi ‘overtook the possible su dependent on the mother, sibility for i, a respons iustly. Suppose by any independent per ‘box of chocolates for Christmas, IF On the other hand, this argume ie box and refuses to give his brother any of the chocolates, he mother’s body only ifher pres s been given aright knowledge of the chance a pregnancy might res would leave out entirely n the unborn person whose existence is due 1o rape, Pending the availability of some further argument, then, we would be left with the conclusion thet unborn persons like everybody else, have a and thus in the view we were considering just now, the right So here you do what he supposedly has a right you shall not do, but you do not act unjustly to him in doing it ‘The emendation which may be made at this poi ot in the right not to be ‘now he can stay, she’s given him & in unplugging yourself, thereby ki do not violate ini would be still more absurd windows, preci the gap in the argument against ab is by no means enough to show thatthe fetu ‘one may érift in and take toot 0 you fix up your windows n a case of pregnancy due to rape the has not given the unbom person 2 right 10 the use of her body for food and shelter Indeed, in what pre be supposed that the mother has given ere were unbom persons drifting about invite you in.” are other ways one can have acquired a right to person's body than by having been invited to use it by that per, intercourse, knowing af the chance it sis she notin part respon- unborn person inside her? NO onsibilty tor its being there aborting it would be more uur unplugging yourself from use of her body’? If away the chocolates, t—loing so wor would be doing it an eens to me tha tho argument we are lo are some cases in which the unborn person and therefore some cases in which abort discussion and argument as to precisely whi Step this issue and leave it open, fort i that there may be cases in would be moral fon y Suppo86 caterer: azostion ‘HETER 1) ABOATON 35 is not nine years of you spend one hour in thet "2 So that Lave aright to ‘ough no right when it’s hard? It's rather fade avay and disappear not affect your health in thes kidnapped. Admittedly you did Nevertheless it seems to me that hour—it would be indeee Again, suppose pregnancy health. An 4id not voluntarily do anything t0 ly she did nothing at tedly you were to plug him into you, ther to him, low him to use your kidneys for ‘So my own view is that even though you ought to rneys forthe one hour he needs, we should not conclude tof rape ing about the existence of the unbom person a that even supposing a case in which a woman pregn: ‘ought to allow the unborn persoa to use her body for the hour he needs, conclude that he has a iston this point. any then al the same he must Now some people are inclined to use the term “righ lows from the fact that you ought to allow a person to ‘needs, tht he has aright rouse your body forthe hous he new not been given that ight by any person of act. They ma) say ifyou follows also that ‘you act unjustly toward him. This use of the term is pethaps so com. ‘be called wrong; nevertheless it seems to me to be an unfortunate ‘months, in order to keep ] We have in fact Samaritan and what we ‘wo kinds of Samaritar ly Decent Samaritaa, The st ‘o give his brother any, he is greedy, stingy, callous-— tppose thatthe people I have in mind will say it does follow thet a night to some of the chocolates, and thus thatthe boy does act sive his brother any. But the effect of saying this is to what we should kee; ifference between the boy's ‘case, in which the box was, hich the small brother thos had what was from Acertain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell amoag thives, stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed im alt do re came down a certain priest that wa; and when he saw hi side, ‘her he as at he place, came an looked on him, and passed 1 he journeyed, came where he was; nd when he ‘A further obje doa thing for B, itis going to make t using the term “right ‘A ought that B has a right against A that A de bound up his own Beas, and brought im oan in kare don the morrow, when he departed, he took and 2 nd std unto him, “Take care of him; and whetsoever thou sper pay thee” would be frightfully nice of hi provide me with lace « hand briefly on my brow—and lo, my lif to do it, it would be indecent to refus that in this ase she has aright the touch of hi28 curren ascrrion 1 usereR ts aBormon 87 These things are a marier of degree, of comes out perhaps most clearly i the stor remember, was murdered wh ed, and did stead of you. You nothing at P her. A Gacd Samaritan would have rushed out ta give divest see giving up so much of your ‘Soitance against che murderer. Or perhaps we had better allow tha it would have self, and ask us to do so. been Splendid Samaritan who did this, onthe groun ‘risk of death for himself even trouble to pick call for doing After him, There you are, owing the lead ofthe opponents of abortion, Ihave throughout been ‘Go and do thu ike speaking ofthe ftus merely asa person and What at we are morally requied to act asthe Goad Serica othe argument we began with, wich process only peopl odo more th Son, really does establish ts conclusion. have srg Butt couse there ae arguments and simply fastened on he wrong one Itmay be ihe tha he es a pason our het sparen oe une te ee special Kind of espns 3g rom theft that shes ts mother And might for you do ot have Fonda does not have tht spe ion might be drawn to the provide suppor for hae ‘person who has no special righ demand it swing attention to the fae ‘county is any man compelled by law t0 be even a Mini 37) Peron there is no law under which charges could be brought against he they Kitty Genovese died. By contrast, in most states in the pelled by law to be not merely Minimally Desent Sarnari. ‘ans, but Good Samaritans to unborn persons inside pe aatting one way ofthe other, because it may well be argued that thee should bbe laws inthis eountey European countties— compelling at timmy Decent Samaritans Butt doe show that theresa ges tice in the existing state of the law. Ans Chat the groups currently works rie) with his axgument in etn [2 above jon now may bein order Surly we da hot have sy uch ape fafa ks weve ms ne aay 1 present pregnancy, doc bn at abn 3c cht dot put tou for nd, bees then, then they have atumot respon for ey dave av cost of ie becnse king forthe adop- they are acting in bad ould be one thing inf But we are not here te las, What we should ask by law to be a Good Samaritan, somebody is being compelied—by other words, 10 look now at ing that no person is morally required to make vo as 0 would Henry Fonda, if from the West Coast and assume responsi There may wellbe cases Decent Samari inclined to yes or sick and despera ‘merit of allows fo88 chaereR 1; Azomrion de them suspect atthe ‘of abortion in some case feof the rom her body guarantees is deat ferent, [have argued th sustaining the life ; bat to you unplug yourself, thee is a miracle anc round and in that up toa certain point int ‘utside the mother's bodys hence removing But they are imports spend nine month means t0 say that you then have this costs be detached from her, bat lined to regard this as beneath to what is surely a powerful source of ite forthe child's deat be remembered that we have only been pretending being from the moment of conception. A very "8 OF € person, and so is not dealt with by any~ ‘omeTeR Asormon 39 Questions 2 Does Thomson provide a defensible account ofthe 3 Thomson's overall analysis culminates ina mod rae view conservative direction or more ina Majority Opinion in Roe v. Wade Justice Harry A. Blackmun law. According ‘except to save the life ofthe pregnant wor atence of twa to five yeas. writing an opinion concurred in by ‘hat a woman's decison to termi ‘up to a cetin poi in the development not an absolute righ it must yield at some pei Blackmon contends tht the sae has ¢ apparent that at comme and throughout the major portion o disfavor than under most American rene Coun. 410 US. 113 (1979, hat