A Defense Of Abortion By Judith Jarvis Thomson Summary

“A Defense of Abortion” is a philosophy paper by Judith Jarvis Thomson in which the author argues for abortion, using several analogies to illustrate her points. In a move that separates this paper from the bulk of others on the same topic, Thomson grants at the start of the paper that a fetus has the right to life. She then proceeds to argue that although a fetus has a right to life, that right does not trump a woman’s right to her body. She concludes that abortion is an acceptable choice in a variety of circumstances. In one of her many thought-experiments, Thomson uses a story of people-seeds to argue that a woman has a right to an abortion after voluntary intercourse. She tells a story of flying people-seeds that can fly into people’s

Minimally Decent Persons are just that; minimally decent. They do what is required by them as members of society, but they do not go above and beyond, unlike Good Samaritans. Thomson argues that no one is required to be a Good Samaritan and that people must only be Minimally Decent Persons. In the above people-seed argument, one would be a Good Samaritan if they let the people-seed remain in their house. However, it would be a kindness, not necessary, as the right to their house trumps the people-seed’s right to remain in their

They believe that the experience of being alive or conscious is fundamentally better than having never experienced life or consciousness at all. If a fetus is projected to die within hours of their birth, it should not be aborted because the experience of taking even just a few short breaths is greater than never getting that chance. I agree that the experience of being alive is valuable. I will add, however, that the value is limited. For example, while the awareness of unconsciousness persons is hotly debated, it is perhaps safe to say that people who are in a permanent state of unconsciousness have limited awareness and may not know whether they are alive or dead. A large number of people with an extremely low quality of life are conscious, but are not aware that they are conscious. They might experience emotions, but may not be aware that they are having said emotions. A person with an extremely low quality of life might slightly gain something from being alive, but if they are not aware they are gaining something, the value significantly diminishes. If a person with an extremely low quality of life is aware and mentally sound, but perhaps bed-bound and living in severe pain, the value of their life significantly diminishes to similar levels. If a fetus’s future is as bleak as that, without room for improvement, then they often are better off not being born. There