Mary Warren Abortion Analysis

From these two notions stems three basic views, or platforms, individuals use as the backbone for their argument when making their case for the right or wrongness of abortion. Conservatives believe under no circumstance is it morally acceptable to perform an abortion. Liberals believe abortions are permissible at any time during pregnancy and for any reason. Lastly, moderates stand behind the notion that abortions are morally permissible in some situations but not all. Over time hundreds of philosophers have attempted to justify their view point with sound theories; three of which, Don Marquis, Michael Tooley and Judith Thomson, seem to have done so successfully.

There are many factors that are taken into consideration when determining if abortion is morally permissible, or wrong including; sentience of the fetus, the fetuses right to life, the difference between adult human beings and fetuses, the autonomy of the pregnant woman, and the legality of abortion. Don Marquis argues that abortion is always morally wrong, excluding cases in which the woman is threatened by pregnancy, or abortion after rape, because fetuses have a valuable future. Mary Anne Warren contends that late term abortions are morally permissible because birth is the most significant event for a fetus, and a woman’s autonomy should never be suspended.

Abortion is an issue that can go both ways and a topic that is very controversial. Is a fetus a human? Does its life matter? Or it wasn’t supposed to happen to me or I was raped. Many people can think of abortion as a good and bad thing, it just depends on what the person’s intuition about abortion is. I decided to go with the topic over abortion because I feel it is a broad topic and can go two ways as in being defensive or immortal. During this topic over abortion I will be including two articles, “A Defense of Abortion” and “Why Abortion Is Immoral”. These articles will explain the difference in how they think abortion can be taken. For instance, the first article will talk about why Judith argues why abortion is not too bad to be allowed

Thompson starts by expressing " a baby is a man and that executing a man is, basically, murder, and along these lines ethically off-base." Thompson utilizes numerous analogies that can be contrasted with

In Judith A. Thomson’s article, ‘A defense of abortion’ Thomson defends her view that in some cases abortion is morally permissible. She takes this stance even with the premise that fetuses upon the moment of conception are in fact regarded as persons. However one criticism of her argument would be that there is a biological relationship between mother and fetus however there is no biological relationship between you and the violinist. Having this biological relationship therefore entails special responsibility upon the mother however there is no responsibility in the case of the violinist. Thomson argues against those who are opposed to abortion with her violinist thought experiment.

To put it simply, an abortion is defined as, the intentional termination of a pregnancy most often preformed before the third trimester (within weeks 1-28). The controversy over abortions usually stems from the difficulty between individuals to agree on a set of conditions that would constitute ones’ decision, to abort as just. This issue is examined by many philosophers, particularly, Judith Thomson and Don Marquis. Both philosopher’s views loosely encompass the complex underlying beliefs of those who stand behind the “pro-life” and “pro-choice” arguments. Tomson and Marquis demonstrate the very distinctively different perspectives one could take on the issue. Don Marquis suggests that fetuses, being persons, possess the right to a “future like ours” and that it would be wrong to intentionally impede on “the life that I would have lived if I had lived out my natural lifespan” except for in “rare circumstances”. While, Tomson asserts that not all abortions are morally wrong, nor do they “violate the victim’s right to life”, and by having one that is in no way indicative that a fetus’s rights have been violated. Despite the fact that both philosophers present valid positions, and outline their key differences, Tomson goes far beyond Marquis’ efforts by illustrating that the way in which we view abortions ought to be redefined in order for one to maintain a clear perspective.

In her article, “The Defense of Abortion”, Judith Jarvis Thomson states an analogy involving a violinist. She first states that you are allowed to unplug yourself in the violinist scenario, second abortion after rape is analogous to the violinist scenario, therefore, you should be allowed to unplug yourself and be allowed to abort after rape (Chwang, Abortion slide 12). In this paper, I will argue that abortion is morally acceptable even if the fetus is considered a person. This paper will criticize premise two from the traditional argument against abortion string that killing innocent persons is wrong (Chwang, Abortion slide 9). Following the violinist analogy will be an objection to this analogy and my respons to them. One of the

As a result, since the mother never granted permission for the foetus to be in her body, according to Thomson, it would follow that abortion in this particular circumstance is not killing unjustly. Therefore, abortion is morally permissible and is a reasonable decision despite the fact that the pregnancy was the product of the woman having consensual sexual intercourse and doing it voluntarily. Thomson made a logical argument, with the assumption that her experiments had addressed all potential cases of pregnancy, and proving that it is morally acceptable to abort in all proposed cases, then concluding that it is still never immoral. Despite this, it must be brought up that, Thomson recognized the morals and values of the individual who is willing to do whatever it takes to sustain the violinist’s life, an action that sets the bar for morality so high that it would be unacceptable to expect one to follow. Furthermore, Thomson states that while she is “arguing for the permissibility of abortion in some cases” (Thomson, 66), she is “not arguing for the right to secure the death of the unborn child” (Thomson, 66). She also points out that we must be confuse these two

If all the following conclusions are acceptable then the conclusion of abortion being morally wrong is accepted. Each of these premises will be defended throughout this paper.

Mary Anne Warren argues in the position that abortion is morally permissible because the fetus is not a person therefore has no rights and not considered immoral to be killed. I shall argue that Warren’s argument in invalid since the claims of argument cannot be proven.

One of the more vulnerable parts of her arguments centers on the consideration of whether sentient fetuses are persons. While they may not have the ability to act upon their sentience, that does not mean that they are not persons. Here is where she brings up the reasons why infants are persons, and thus somehow morally above even sentient fetuses, and especially fetuses not beyond the first trimester. Her words are that: “not all sentient beings are persons with full and equal moral rights”(146). The difference between moral and empirical rationale behind how we act towards people is significant for Warren.

Mary Anne Warren is a proponent of abortion and would agree with Sister Margaret McBride’s and St. Joseph’s Hospital’s decision to go through with the abortion whether or not the mother’s life was in danger. Warren believes that the most important moral issue regarding abortion is the moral status of the fetus. Warren states that “the moral community consists of all and only people, rather than all and only human beings” (On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, p. 54). Warren finds this distinction between being human and being a person the most important issue regarding the morality of abortion.

Mary Anne Warren is one of the top advocates for keeping abortion legal without any restrictions on it. She states that the morality of abortion is dependent on the moral status of the baby, not simply on the rights of the mother. She criticizes those who defend abortion as the right to control one's body: "it is at best a rather feeble argument for the permissibility of abortion. Mere ownership does not give me the right to kill innocent people whom I find on my property…" (The Monist, pg. 44) Using this analogy she shows that just because the fetus is inside us it does mean we have a right to terminate it.

When faced with the choice of life or death, most people would choose to live. In fact, most would not want someone else making that decision for them. They would claim that as a living and independent entity it is solely their choice as to whether they continue to live or not. While this concept may seem fairly straightforward, there seems to be some great debate when it is applied to abortion. For many, they will maintain that the fetus has the right to life no matter the situation. There are some who will argue that abortion is morally permissible in specific circumstances and there are even those that will claim that abortion is always permissible. Why is there such a great divide? A major factor that plays a part in this is whether abortion involves more than one life. Because determining the beginning point of life is such a complex and emotional debate, there will be the same allowance in this paper as there was in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s “A Defense of Abortion”. As she eloquently put it “I propose then, that we grant that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception” (p. 721). This will allow for a look into the moral debate of abortion from a more grounded stage. As discussed early in Thomson’s paper, most of the debate on abortion rests on whether the fetus is alive or not. Whereas the focus should be on the many other aspects of pregnancies that may lead to a mother wanting an abortion.

Thomson continues to dissect her scenarios that promote her support of abortion. She ends this essay after explaining that although she supports abortion rights, she does not think that all cases are suitable for abortion.