Philosophical aspects of the abortion debate
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The philosophical aspects of the abortion debate are
logical argument An argument is a statement or group of statements called premises intended to determine the degree of truth or acceptability of another statement called conclusion. Arguments can be studied from three main perspectives: the logical, the dialectic ...
s that can be made either in support of or in opposition to
abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
.


Overview

The philosophical arguments in the
abortion debate The abortion debate is a longstanding, ongoing controversy that touches on the moral, legal, medical, and religious aspects of induced abortion. In English-speaking countries, the debate most visibly polarizes around adherents of the self-describ ...
are
deontological In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology (from Greek: + ) is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules and principles, ra ...
or rights-based. The view that all or almost all abortion should be illegal generally rests on the claims: (1) that the existence and moral right to life of human beings (human organisms) begins at or near conception-
fertilization Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a new individual organism or offspring and initiate its development. Proce ...
; (2) that induced abortion is the deliberate and unjust killing of the
embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
in violation of its right to life; and (3) that the law should prohibit unjust violations of the right to life. The view that abortion should in most or all circumstances be legal generally rests on the claims: (1) that women have a right to control what happens in and to their own bodies; (2) that abortion is a just exercise of this right; and (3) that the law should not criminalize just exercises of the right to control one's own body and its life-support functions. Although both sides are likely to see the rights-based considerations as paramount, some popular arguments appeal to
consequentialist In ethical philosophy, consequentialism is a class of normative ethics, normative, Teleology, teleological ethical theories that holds that the wikt:consequence, consequences of one's Action (philosophy), conduct are the ultimate basis for judgm ...
or
utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...
considerations. For example,
pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
groups (see the list below) sometimes claim the existence of
post-abortion syndrome Scientific and medical expert bodies have repeatedly concluded that abortion poses no greater mental health risks than carrying an unintended pregnancy to term. Nevertheless, the relationship between induced abortion and mental health is an area o ...
or a link between abortion and breast cancer, alleged medical and psychological risks of abortion. On the other side, pro-choice groups (see the list below) say that criminalizing abortion will lead to the deaths of many women through "
back-alley abortion An unsafe abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by people lacking the necessary skills, or in an environment lacking minimal medical standards, or both. An unsafe abortion is a life-threatening procedure. It includes self-induced abortions, a ...
s"; that unwanted children have a negative social impact (or conversely that abortion lowers the crime rate); and that
reproductive rights Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: Reproductive rights rest on t ...
are necessary to achieve the full and equal participation of women in society and the workforce. Consequentialist arguments on both sides tend to be vigorously disputed, though are not widely discussed in the philosophical literature.


Philosophical argumentation on the moral issue

Contemporary philosophical literature contains two kinds of arguments concerning the morality of abortion. One family of arguments (see the following three sections) relates to the moral status of the embryo—whether or not the embryo has a right to life; in other words is the embryo a "person" in a moral sense. An affirmative answer would support claim (1) in the central
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
argument, while a negative answer would support claim (2) in the central pro-choice argument. Another family of arguments (see the section on Thomson, below) relates to bodily rights—the question of whether the woman's bodily rights justify abortion ''even if'' the embryo has a right to life. A negative answer would support claim (2) in the central
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
argument, while an affirmative answer would support claim (2) in the central pro-choice argument.


Arguments based on criteria for personhood

Since the zygote is genetically identical to the embryo, the fully formed fetus, and the baby, questioning the beginning of personhood could lead to an instance of the
sorites paradox The sorites paradox (; sometimes known as the paradox of the heap) is a paradox that results from vague predicates. A typical formulation involves a heap of sand, from which grains are removed individually. With the assumption that removing a sing ...
, also known as ''the paradox of the heap''. Mary Anne Warren, in her article arguing for the permissibility of abortion, holds that moral opposition to abortion is based on the following argument: # It is wrong to kill innocent human beings. # The embryo is an innocent human being. # Hence it is wrong to kill the embryo. Warren, however, thinks that "human being" is used in different senses in (1) and (2). In (1), "human being" is used in a moral sense to mean a "person", a "full-fledged member of the moral community". In (2), "human being" means "biological
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
". That the embryo is a biologically human organism or animal is uncontroversial, Warren holds. But it does not follow that the embryo is a person, and it is persons that have rights, such as the right to life. To help make a distinction between "person" and "biological human", Warren notes that we should respect the lives of highly intelligent
aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
, even if they are not biological humans. She thinks there is a cluster of properties that characterize persons: #
consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
(of objects and events external and/or internal to the being), and in particular the capacity to feel pain #
reasoning Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...
(the ''developed'' capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems) # self-motivated activity (activity which is relatively independent of either genetic or direct external control) # the capacity to
communicate Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
, by whatever means, messages of an indefinite variety of types, that is, not just with an indefinite number of possible contents, but on indefinitely many possible topics # the presence of self-concepts, and
self-awareness In philosophy of self, self-awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's environment and body and lifesty ...
, either individual or racial, or both A person does not have to have each of these, but if something has all five then it definitely is a person whether it is biologically human or not, while if it has none or perhaps only one then it is not a person, again whether it is biologically human or not. The fetus has at most one, consciousness (and this only after it becomes susceptible to pain—the timing of which is disputed), and hence is not a person. Other writers apply similar criteria, concluding that the embryo lacks a right to life because it lacks self-consciousness, or rationality and self-consciousness, or "certain higher psychological capacities" including "autonomy". Others conclude that personhood should be based on "brain birth" concept, which is in essence the reversal of the
brain death Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function which may include cessation of involuntary activity necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some aut ...
used as a modern definition of medical
death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
. Under this proposal, presence of brain waves would be enough to grant personhood, even with other features lacking. Based on whether brain activity in the
brain stem The brainstem (or brain stem) is the posterior stalk-like part of the brain that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord. In the human brain the brainstem is composed of the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla oblongata. The midbrain is conti ...
, or just in the
cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consisting of ...
, is relevant for personhood, two concepts of "brain birth" emerge: * at the first appearance of brain waves in lower brain (brain stem) - 6–8 weeks of gestation (paralleling "whole brain death") * at the first appearance of brain waves in higher brain (cerebral cortex) - 19–20 weeks of gestation (paralleling "higher brain death") These writers disagree on precisely ''which'' features confer a right to life, but agree those features must be certain ''developed'' psychological or physiological features which the embryo lacks. Warren's arguments face two main objections. The comatose patient objection claims that as patients in a reversible
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
do not satisfy Warren's (or some other) criteria—they are not conscious, do not communicate, and so on—therefore they would lack a right to life on her view. One response is that "although the reversibly comatose lack any ''conscious'' mental states, they do retain all their ''unconscious'' r ''dispositional''mental states, since the appropriate neurological configurations are preserved in the brain." This may allow them to satisfy some of Warren's criteria. The comatose also still possess brain activity (
brain waves Neural oscillations, or brainwaves, are rhythmic or repetitive patterns of neural activity in the central nervous system. Neural tissue can generate oscillation, oscillatory activity in many ways, driven either by mechanisms within individual ne ...
), so this objection does not apply to "brain birth" theories. Finally, there are some post-natal humans who are unable to feel pain due to genetic disorders and thus do not satisfy all of Warren's criteria. The infanticide objection points out that infants (indeed up to about one year of age, since it is only around then that they begin to outstrip the
abilities Abilities are powers an agent has to perform various actions. They include common abilities, like walking, and rare abilities, like performing a double backflip. Abilities are intelligent powers: they are guided by the person's intention and exec ...
of non-human animals) have only one of Warren's characteristics—consciousness—and hence would have to be accounted non-persons on her view; thus her view would permit not only abortion but
infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...
. Warren agrees that infants are non-persons (and so killing them is not strictly murder), but denies that infanticide is generally permissible. For, Warren claims, once a human being is born, there is no longer a conflict between it and the woman's rights, since the human being can be given up for
adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
. Killing such a human being would be wrong, not because it is a person, but because it would go against the desires of people willing to adopt the infant and to pay to keep the infant alive. Although, this clarification has critics of its own: beef cattle, chickens, or any other livestock raised for meat—or indeed even some plants—have supporters who would pay to keep them alive. However, a response to these supports might be that, while livestock, plants, and infants are all not morally persons, the infant is the only life that can be designated a human being. Thus, Warren's argument does suggest an inherent value for the life of human beings that are not persons over lives that do not have the potential for becoming a person. Nonetheless, Warren grants that her argument entails that infanticide would be morally acceptable under some circumstances, such as those of a desert island. Philosopher
Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a secular, ...
similarly concludes that infanticide, particularly of severely
disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
infants, is justifiable under certain conditions. And Jeff McMahan grants that under very limited circumstances it may be permissible to kill one infant to save the lives of several others. Opponents may see these concessions as a ''
reductio ad absurdum In logic, (Latin for "reduction to absurdity"), also known as (Latin for "argument to absurdity") or ''apagogical arguments'', is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absu ...
'' of these writers' views; while supporters may see them merely as examples of unpleasant acts being justified in unusual cases. Since brain waves appear in the lower brain (brain stem) in 6–8 weeks of gestation, and in the higher brain (cerebral cortex) in 19–20 weeks of gestation, both "whole brain" and "higher brain" brain birth personhood concepts based on the presence of brain waves do not permit infanticide.


The natural capacities view

Some opponents of Warren's view believe that what matters morally is not that one be ''actually exhibiting'' complex mental qualities of the sort she identifies, but rather that one have in oneself a self-directed genetic propensity or natural capacity to develop such qualities. In other words, what is crucial is that one be the ''kind'' of entity or
substance Substance may refer to: * Matter, anything that has mass and takes up space Chemistry * Chemical substance, a material with a definite chemical composition * Drug substance ** Substance abuse, drug-related healthcare and social policy diagnosis ...
that, under the right conditions, actively develops itself to the point of exhibiting Warren's qualities at some point in its life, even if it does not ''actually'' exhibit them because of not having developed them yet (embryo, infant) or having lost them (severe
Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...
). Because human beings do have this natural capacity—and indeed have it '' essentially''—therefore (on this view) they ''essentially'' have a right to life: they could not possibly ''fail'' to have a right to life. Further, since modern
embryology Embryology (from Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, '' -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the prenatal development of gametes (sex cells), fertilization, and development of embryos and ...
shows that the embryo begins to exist at conception and has a natural capacity for complex mental qualities, therefore the right to life begins at conception. Grounding the right to life in essential ''natural'' capacities rather than accidental ''developed'' capacities is said to have several advantages. As developed capacities are on a continuum, admitting of greater and lesser degrees—some, for example, are more rational and self-conscious than others—therefore: (1) the "developed capacities" view must ''arbitrarily'' select some particular degree of development as the cut-off point for the right to life—whereas the "natural capacities" view is non-arbitrary; (2) those whose capacities are ''more'' developed would have ''more'' of a right to life on the "developed capacities" view—whereas the "natural capacities" view entails we all have an ''equal'' right to life; and (3) the continuum of developed capacities makes the exact point at which personhood ensues vague, and human beings around that point, say between one and two years of age, will have a shadowy or indeterminate moral status—whereas there is no such indeterminacy on the "natural capacities" view. Some defenders of Warren-style arguments grant that these problems have not yet been fully solved, but reply that the "natural capacities" view fares no better. It is argued, for example, that as human beings vary significantly in their natural cognitive capacities (some are naturally more intelligent than others), and as one can imagine a series or spectrum of species with gradually diminishing natural capacities (for example, a series from humans down to
amoebae An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopo ...
with only the slightest differences in natural capacities between each successive species), therefore the problems of arbitrariness and inequality will apply equally to the "natural capacities" view. In other words, there is a continuum not only of developed but of ''natural'' capacities, and so the "natural capacities" view will inevitably face these problems as well. Some critics reject the "natural capacities" view on the basis that it takes mere species membership or genetic potential as a basis for respect (in essence a charge of
speciesism Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions within the relevant literature. A common element of most definitions is that speciesism involves t ...
), or because it entails that
anencephalic Anencephaly is the absence of a major portion of the brain, skull, and scalp that occurs during embryonic development. It is a cephalic disorder that results from a neural tube defect that occurs when the rostral (head) end of the neural tube fail ...
infants and the irreversibly comatose have a full right to life. Moreover, as with Marquis's argument (see below), some theories of
personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time can ...
would support the view that the embryo will never ''itself'' develop complex mental qualities (rather, it will simply give rise to a distinct substance or entity that ''will'' have these qualities), in which case the "natural capacities" argument would fail. Respondents to this criticism argue that the noted human cases in fact would not be classified as persons as they do not have a natural capacity to develop any psychological features.


The deprivation argument

A seminal essay by
Don Marquis Donald Robert Perry Marquis ( ; July 29, 1878 – December 29, 1937) was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters Ar ...
argues that abortion is wrong because it deprives the embryo of a valuable future. Marquis begins by arguing that what makes it wrong to kill a normal adult human being is the fact that the killing inflicts a terrible harm on the victim. The harm consists in the fact that "when I die, I am deprived of all of the value of my future": I am deprived of all the valuable "experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments" that I would otherwise have had. Thus, if a being has a highly valuable future ahead of it—a "future like ours"—then killing that being would be seriously harmful and hence seriously wrong. But then, as a standard embryo ''does'' have a highly valuable future, killing it ''is'' seriously wrong. And so "the overwhelming majority of deliberate abortions are seriously immoral", "in the same moral category as killing an innocent adult human being". A consequence of this argument is that abortion is wrong in all the cases where killing a child or adult with the same sort of future as the embryo would be wrong. So for example, ''if'' involuntary
euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...
of patients with a future filled with intense physical pain is morally acceptable, aborting embryos whose future is filled with intense physical pain will also be morally acceptable. But it would not do, for example, to invoke the fact that some embryo's future would involve such things as being raised by an unloving family, since we do not take it to be acceptable to kill a five-year-old just because her future involves being raised by an unloving family. Similarly, killing a child or adult may be permissible in exceptional circumstances such as self-defense or (perhaps)
capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
; but these are irrelevant to standard abortions. Marquis's argument has prompted several objections. The contraception objection claims that if Marquis's argument is correct, then, since sperm and ova (or perhaps a sperm and ovum jointly) have a future like ours,
contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...
would be as wrong as murder; but as this conclusion is (it is said) absurd—even those who believe contraception is wrong do not believe it is as wrong as murder—the argument must be unsound. One response is that neither the sperm, nor the egg, nor any particular sperm-egg combination, will ever ''itself'' live out a valuable future: what will later have valuable experiences, activities, projects, and enjoyments is a ''new entity'', a ''new organism'', that will come into existence at or near conception; and it is ''this'' entity, not the sperm or egg or any sperm-egg combination, that has a future like ours. As this response makes clear, Marquis's argument requires that what will later have valuable experiences and activities is the ''same entity'', the same biological organism, as the embryo. The identity objection rejects this assumption. On certain theories of personal identity (generally motivated by
thought experiment A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory, or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. History The ancient Greek ''deiknymi'' (), or thought experiment, "was the most anci ...
s involving
brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
or
cerebrum The cerebrum, telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex (of the two cerebral hemispheres), as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb. In ...
transplants), each of us is ''not'' a biological organism but rather an ''embodied mind'' or a ''person'' (in
John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...
's sense) that comes into existence when the brain gives rise to certain developed psychological capacities. If either of these views is correct, Marquis's argument will fail; for the embryo (even the early ''fetus'', lacking the relevant psychological capacities) would not ''itself'' have a future of value, but would merely have the potential to give rise to a ''different'' entity, an embodied mind or a person, that ''would'' have a future of value. The success of Marquis's argument thus depends on one's favored account of personal identity. The interests objection claims that what makes murder wrong is not just the deprivation of a valuable future, but the deprivation of a future that one has an interest in. The embryo has no conscious interest in its future, and so (the objection concludes) to kill it is not wrong. The defender of Marquis-style arguments may, however, give the counterexample of the suicidal teenager who takes no interest in their future, but killing whom is nonetheless wrong and murder. If the opponent responds that one can ''have'' an interest in one's future without ''taking'' an interest in it, then the defender of the Marquis-style argument can claim that this applies to the embryo. Similarly, if an opponent claims that what is crucial is having a valuable future which one would, under ideal conditions, desire to preserve (whether or not one does ''in fact'' desire to preserve it), then the defender may ask why the embryo would not, under ideal conditions, desire to preserve its future. The equality objection claims that Marquis's argument leads to unacceptable inequalities. If, as Marquis claims, killing is wrong because it deprives the victim of a valuable future, then, since some futures appear to contain much more value than others—a 9-year-old has a much longer future than a 90-year-old, a
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
person's future has much less gratuitous pain and suffering than someone in extreme
poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
—some killings would turn out to be much more ''wrong'' than others. But as this is strongly counterintuitive (most people believe all killings are ''equally'' wrong, other things being equal), Marquis's argument must be mistaken. Some writers have concluded that the wrongness of killing arises not from the harm it causes the victim (since this varies greatly among killings), but from the killing's violation of the intrinsic worth or personhood of the victim. However, such accounts may themselves face problems of equality, and so the equality objection may not be decisive against Marquis's argument. The psychological connectedness objection claims that a being can be seriously harmed by being deprived of a valuable future only if there are sufficient psychological connections—sufficient correlations or continuations of memory, belief, desire and the like—between the being as it is now and the being as it will be when it lives out the valuable future. As there are few psychological connections between the embryo and its later self, it is concluded that depriving it of its future does not seriously harm it (and hence is not seriously wrong). A defense of this objection is likely to rest, as with certain views of
personal identity Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time can ...
, on thought experiments involving
brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...
or
cerebrum The cerebrum, telencephalon or endbrain is the largest part of the brain containing the cerebral cortex (of the two cerebral hemispheres), as well as several subcortical structures, including the hippocampus, basal ganglia, and olfactory bulb. In ...
swaps; and this may render it implausible to some readers.


The bodily rights argument

In her well-known article "
A Defense of Abortion "A Defense of Abortion" is a moral philosophy essay by Judith Jarvis Thomson first published in ''Philosophy & Public Affairs'' in 1971. Granting for the sake of argument that the fetus has a right to life, Thomson uses thought experiments to argue ...
",
Judith Jarvis Thomson Judith Jarvis Thomson (October 4, 1929November 20, 2020) was an American philosopher who studied and worked on ethics and metaphysics. Her work ranges across a variety of fields, but she is most known for her work regarding the thought experimen ...
argues that abortion is in some circumstances permissible ''even if'' the embryo is a person and has a right to life, because the embryo's right to life is overtrumped by the woman's right to control her body and its life-support functions; in short, ''Thomson's argument is that the right to life does not include or entail the right to use someone else's body''. Her central argument involves a
thought experiment A thought experiment is a hypothetical situation in which a hypothesis, theory, or principle is laid out for the purpose of thinking through its consequences. History The ancient Greek ''deiknymi'' (), or thought experiment, "was the most anci ...
. Thomson asks us to imagine that an individual (call Bob) wakes up in bed next to a famous violinist. He is unconscious with a fatal kidney ailment; and because only Bob happens to have the right blood type to help, the Society of Music Lovers has kidnapped Bob and plugged his circulatory system into the violinist's so that Bob's kidneys can filter poisons from his blood as well as his own. If the violinist is disconnected from Bob now, he will die; but in nine months he will recover and can be safely disconnected. Thomson takes it that one may permissibly unplug oneself from the violinist even though this will kill him. The right to life, Thomson says, does not entail the right to use another person's body, and so in disconnecting the violinist one does not violate his right to life but merely deprives him of something—the use of another person's body—to which he has no right. Similarly, even if the fetus has a right to life, it does not have a right to use the pregnant woman's body and life-support functions against her will; and so aborting the pregnancy is permissible in at least some circumstances. However, Thomson notes that the woman's right to abortion does not include the right to directly insist upon the death of the child, should the fetus happen to be viable, that is, capable of surviving outside the womb. Critics of this argument generally agree that unplugging the violinist is permissible, but claim there are morally relevant disanalogies between the violinist scenario and typical cases of abortion. The most common objection is that the violinist scenario, involving a
kidnap In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
ping, is analogous only to abortion after
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
. In most cases of abortion, the pregnant woman was ''not'' raped but had intercourse voluntarily, and thus has either tacitly consented to allowing the embryo to use her body (the tacit consent objection), or else has a duty to sustain the embryo because the woman herself caused it to stand in need of her body (the responsibility objection). Other common objections turn on the claim that the embryo is the pregnant woman's child whereas the violinist is a stranger (the stranger versus offspring objectione.g. ; ; ); that abortion kills the embryo whereas unplugging the violinist merely lets him die (the killing versus
letting die In non-consequentialist ethical thought, there is a moral distinction between killing and letting die. Whereas killing involves intervention, letting die involves withholding care. Also in medical ethics there is a moral distinction between eutha ...
objection); or, similarly, that abortion intentionally causes the embryo's death whereas unplugging the violinist merely causes death as a foreseen but unintended side-effect (the intending versus foreseeing objection; cf the
doctrine of double effect The principle of double effect – also known as the rule of double effect; the doctrine of double effect, often abbreviated as DDE or PDE, double-effect reasoning; or simply double effect – is a set of ethical criteria which Christian philosop ...
). Defenders of Thomson's argument—most notably David Boonin—reply that the alleged disanalogies between the violinist scenario and typical cases of abortion do not hold, either because the factors that critics appeal to are not genuinely morally relevant, or because those factors are morally relevant but do not apply to abortion in the way that critics have claimed. Critics have in turn responded to Boonin's arguments. Alternative scenarios have been put forth as more accurate and realistic representations of the moral issues present in abortion. John Noonan proposes the scenario of a family who was found to be liable for frostbite finger loss suffered by a dinner guest whom they refused to allow to stay overnight, although it was very cold outside and the guest showed signs of being sick. It is argued that just as it would not be permissible to refuse temporary accommodation for the guest to protect them from physical harm, it would not be permissible to refuse temporary accommodation of a fetus. Other critics claim that there is a difference between artificial and extraordinary means of preservation, such as medical treatment, kidney dialysis, and blood transfusions, and normal and natural means of preservation, such as gestation, childbirth, and breastfeeding. They argue that if a baby was born into an environment in which there was no replacement available for her mother's breast milk, and the baby would either breastfeed or starve, the mother would have to allow the baby to breastfeed. But the mother would never have to give the baby a blood transfusion, no matter what the circumstances were. The difference between breastfeeding in that scenario and blood transfusions is the difference between gestation and childbirth on the one hand, and using one's body as a kidney dialysis machine on the other.


Respect for human life

One argument against the right to abortion appeals to the (secular) value of a human life. The thought is that all forms of human life, including the fetus, are inherently valuable because they are connected to our thoughts on family and parenthood, among other natural aspects of humanity. Thus, abortion can express the wrong attitudes towards humanity in a way that manifest vicious character. This view is represented by some forms of
Humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
and by moral philosopher
Rosalind Hursthouse Mary Rosalind Hursthouse (born 10 November 1943) is a British-born New Zealand moral philosopher noted for her work on virtue ethics. Hursthouse is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at the University of Auckland. Biography Born in Bristol, Englan ...
in her widely anthologized article "Virtue Theory and Abortion". Thinking about abortion in this way, according to Hursthouse, shows the unimportance of rights because one can act viciously in exercising a moral right. For example, she says, "Love and friendship do not survive their parties' constantly insisting on their rights, nor do people live well when they think that getting what they have a right to is of preeminent importance; they harm others, and they harm themselves." Hursthouse argues that the ending of a human life is always a serious matter and that abortion, when it is wrong, is wrong because it violates a respect for human life.


See also

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Abortion debate The abortion debate is a longstanding, ongoing controversy that touches on the moral, legal, medical, and religious aspects of induced abortion. In English-speaking countries, the debate most visibly polarizes around adherents of the self-describ ...
*
Beginning of human personhood The beginning of human personhood is the moment when a human is first recognized as a person. There are differences of opinion as to the precise time when human personhood begins and the nature of that status. The issue arises in a number of fi ...
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Human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
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Fetal pain Prenatal perception is the study of the extent of somatosensory and other types of perception during pregnancy. In practical terms, this means the study of fetuses; none of the accepted indicators of perception are present in embryos. Studies in th ...
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Fetal rights Fetal rights are the moral rights or legal rights of the human fetus under natural and civil law. The term ''fetal rights'' came into wide usage after ''Roe v. Wade'', the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion in the United States. The conce ...
*
Unborn Victims of Violence Act The Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-212) is a United States law that recognizes an embryo or fetus in utero as a legal victim, if they are injured or killed during the commission of any of over 60 listed federal crimes of ...
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Libertarian perspectives on abortion Libertarians promote individual liberty and seek to minimize the role of the state. The abortion debate is mainly within right-libertarianism between cultural liberals and social conservatives as left-libertarians generally see it as a settled i ...
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Paternal rights and abortion The paternal rights and abortion issue is an extension of both the abortion debate and the fathers' rights movement. Abortion can be a factor for disagreement and lawsuit between partners. History Roman law allowed induced abortions but regulate ...
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Person A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property, ...
- for a discussion of personhood *
Religion and abortion Numerous religious traditions have taken a stance on abortion but few are absolute. These stances span a broad spectrum, based on numerous teachings, deities, or religious print, and some of those views are highlighted below. Baháʼí Faith Abo ...
*
Societal attitudes towards abortion Societal attitudes towards abortion have varied throughout different history of abortion, historical periods and cultures. One manner of assessing such attitudes in the modern era has been to conduct opinion polls to measure levels of public opinion ...


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In . * * * * * In . * In . * * * * * Steinbock, B. 1992. ''Life Before Birth: The Moral and Legal Status of Embryos and Fetuses''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, at 78. * * * * * * * * In . * Reprinted in . * * Reprinted in . (The "postscript" is with regards to cited above.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Philosophical Aspects Of The Abortion Debate Abortion debate Philosophical arguments