Abortion: Conflicting Rights Mary-Anne Warren Judith Jarvis Thompson

Judith Jarvis Thompson’s Violist Analogy Imagine you have been kidnapped & wake up in a hospital bed A famous musician is in the bed next to you. He suffers from a mysterious kidney problem and his circulatory system has been plugged into yours You are currently keeping him alive – if you unplug him, you will kill him In 9 months he will be better & can be unplugged. Would you unplug yourself?

Judith Jarvis Thompson’s Violist Analogy Thompson’s analogy aims to justify abortion, even if the foetus is considered to be a person According to Thompson, a foetus, like the violinist, has no rights over the woman’s body No-one would expect you to stay plugged into the violinist therefore no-one should expect a woman to continue with a pregnancy she does not want. To force the woman to continue with the pregnancy is to subject her to bodily harm as the foetus is abusing her body.

How useful is this analogy? It only works if the woman has been raped Pregnancy does not make a woman bed-bound The foetus is not a stranger – it has a biological link to the woman Responsibility to the baby will continue after 9 months

The feminist position Claiming the right to abortion stems out of the rebellion against female oppression and patriarchal society. Women’s role was primarily defined in terms of motherhood – equality was only really achieved at the latter half of 20th C Mary-Anne Warren argued forcefully for women’s rights when it came to abortion

Mary-Anne Warren Illegal, back street abortions lead to many women dying unnecessarily Historically, women were forced to bear many children at short intervals & often died young – having a negative impact on society. A teleogical approach would say abortion is good, for the overall health and wellbeing of society Sex is an important part of life, accidents do happen and celibacy is not a viable option

Abortion must be permissible to maintain a woman’s right to life, liberty & self determination ( incl. freedom from bodily harm) W.H.O. says unsafe abortions kill 200 000 women every year Warren argues that killing in most cases is wrong, but to deny a woman’s right to abortion denies her basic human rights. Judith Jarvis Thompson sees abortion as an issue of self defence – we have the right to kill in self defence & so women should have the right to abortion

A woman can legally deprive a man of his right to become a parent or force him to become one against his will. (Armin A. Brott) How important are the rights of the father? Do the rights of the mother always override the rights of the father? Why?