Thomson's Essay, A Defense Of Abortion

Question 1: In Thomson’s piece of writing, “A Defense of Abortion” she argues that fetuses have a right to live unless the mother decides to have an abortion because she has been raped. Thomson says she grants that the fetus has a right to live at the moment of conception, but goes on to say that ‘it’s not self-evident that a fetus’s right to life will always outweigh the mother’s right to determine what goes on in her body. Therefore, Thomson concludes that abortion is permissible even if the woman knows the possible consequences of having sex. In Thomson’s essay, she follows this up with the illustration of the violinist. In this scenario, a person has been kidnapped, taken to a hospital and hooked up to a famous violinist. After waking …show more content…
With that being the case Thomson concludes that in this scenario of a woman being raped that abortion is okay. Furthermore, Thomson expresses that the mother has a right to self-defense, meaning that she has the right to see the fetus as a “trespasser,” so in this instance, she has the right to have an abortion if she is not wanting to have the child. This is where my view changed. A person has been put into a position that they have not asked to specifically be in and they now have to deal with the result and consequences that come from having sex and being pregnant with a child. In my opinion, no one should have to even go through this, but with the reality being that it happens to so many people they should be able to have the option to “opt out” of having the baby if that is truly what they want. Unfortunately, many of the of woman that this happens to are very young and even still in school. Having a baby can really hinder them from finishing their education and getting a job. Since this happens unexpectedly to so many people cannot afford to even support the baby and give it a life that it truly deserves, getting the necessities can even be a problem for many