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A Defense Of Abortion And Hursthouses Virtue Theory And Abortions

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Bailey Washington
Mr. Reynolds
Philosophy
MWF 8:30
1 December 2016
Thomson vs. Hursthouse In this paper I will be comparing and contrasting Thomsons A Defense of Abortion and Hursthouses Virtue Theory and Abortions. Also in my paper I will be sharing my opinion on abortion and which view I agree with. The two share similar concerns of abortion and that is if the status of the fetus is a human being or a clump of cells and also the right of the woman. Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy most often performed during the first twenty eight weeks of pregnancy. There is a plethora of controversy about whether or not women should be allowed to get an abortion or not. Thomson states that killing an innocent person is always and …show more content…
It is her body and she has the right to do whatever she wants with her body, however abusing abortion is not acceptable. Abortion is not a form of contraception therefore it should only be used for specific purposes like Hursthouse stated. There are exceptions for getting an abortion, but not everyone sees it that way. No one can say what anyone should do in the case of getting an abortion or not unless you are the one in that position. The exceptions include rape, health, and overall health of the fetus. In the piece written by Thomson she spoke about the mom having a cardiac condition. This is an example as to why a woman would want to get an abortion for her health and also ensuring that when she does choose to have a child she will be there for her baby and love he or she unconditionally. An example of over using abortions is just simple not using contraceptives and aborting the baby because you chose not to use protection. This is a reason that some may feel the need to get rid of abortions altogether but in the end there will always be exceptions to …show more content…
Thomson and Hursthouse both have come to the conclusion that abortion is impermissible but there are acceptable situations in which abortion should be permitted. In my opinion I agree with both Thomson and Hursthouse but in the end the conclusion of Hursthouse is the view I could see making both sides of abortion acceptable. When a woman and man conceive a baby knowingly, getting an abortion will only occur in the event of a health risk or the chances of the baby living after birth will be so minimum. By choosing abortion before letting the child get to full term is less painful than carrying the baby to full term and giving themselves false hope. It is understandable that some may want to fight for that chance but there is the option of abortion. Thomson also says that allowing someone to use your body is different from them having the right to. When the violinist was attached to her she never gave him the right to use her body but say may see it as a moral obligation to allow him to use her body. For anyone to see what that truly feels like they would need to be put in that situation but overall it would be an internal conflict between morally doing what is right and what you would want for yourself. It would either be you choosing the “right” thing to do or everyone being mad at you for choosing what is best for you and your baby, or in that case what is right for the violinist. In the

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