Comparing Abortion 'And' An Almost Absolute Value In History

The topic of abortion has become a hotly politicized albeit deeply personal decision in the last few decades. Two articles, “A Defense of Abortion” by Judith Jarvis Thompson and “An Almost Absolute Value in History” by John T. Noonan, Jr. help to give an ethical face to the choice in support and opposition to abortion, respectively. Thomson focuses on the rights of the mother in choosing abortion as a form self-defense while conversely Noonan defends the human rights of a fetus. However, each author further clarifies their arguments with the use of imagery and emotion.
In Thomson’s article, her primary argument in defense of abortion is that women have the right to life and abortion itself serves as a form of self-defense for women whose life is being harmed. It is important to note that Thomson’s concept of ‘a life in harm’ refers not necessarily to the physiological sense of harm, but also the sense that the mother’s livelihood and wellbeing might be in danger.

In the case of ‘viability,’ he manages to link it dependency and how it cannot be a single measure since even after a fetus is considered ‘viable,’ it is still dependent upon the mother. Continuing, he argues that many in favor of abortion deny humanity on the basis of ‘experience,’ meaning that since a fetus has not experienced human life that it cannot be considered human. Noonan reject this by that implying that lack of experience in life should not be a cause for denying humanity.
Furthermore, the themes of ‘feeling,’ ‘senses’ and ‘communication,’ are somewhat related to the last concept of ‘experience.’ These qualities are not necessarily measured in quantitative measures but rather qualitative. From Noonan’s perspectives the lack of human emotions, interpersonal communication and tangibility outside of the womb are not reasons to deny humanity to the