-
Essay / An Ethical Aspect of Abortion in the United States
Abortion: A Story of Morality and MortalityAbortion is currently one of the most controversial and popular social issues in the United States. It's hard to avoid: billboards line highways with anti-abortion propaganda, picketers and protesters stand outside Planned Parenthoods, and debate on the issue drowns out news channels. It's not like there's no reason for this, abortion is a very sensitive subject and difficult to take a stand on. To make a decision on this delicate issue, it is important to decide within ourselves what we believe to be right, to explore the subject and to philosophize on the subject, rather than simply letting the propaganda and beliefs of others make the decision. for us. Either side of the argument is valid if the person believes it, it's just important to really make sure that we truly believe it because of our own ideas and morals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In “A Defense of Abortion,” Judith Jarvis Thomson explains why abortion is morally acceptable in different types of cases. Judith begins by removing the first main argument against abortion: whether or not the fetus is considered a person. She knows it's a difficult argument to define, so she decides to prove why abortion is morally right while asserting that a fetus is a person and that there are still reasons why abortion is acceptable . So if the fetus is a person and a person has a right to life, then how can abortion be moral? Thomson uses analogies and comparisons to show that other moral values may be stronger in cases of abortion than the unborn child's right to life. Thomson uses a few different analogies to prove his case for abortion, one of them relating pregnancy to being hooked up to a dying violinist. She says she imagines being kidnapped and hooked up to a famous dying violinist who can only live if you stay in bed, attached to him, for nine months. Thomson states that, although very kind of you, you are not obligated to give up part of your life for the violinist and that you are not responsible for the outcome of his situation. The violinist has a right to life, however, the right to live your own life trumps the right to his, and you are not responsible for his right to life. Although a bit obscure, this analogy does a good job of creating a scenario where one agrees with Thomson, however, this analogy only really works in the case of rape, since the person was kidnapped and did not choose to become attached to the violinist. This analogy, to me, was the strongest of the three, but it is limited to just one specific reason for having an abortion. I also think that, although his analogies are effective in changing the context and getting people to see from another point of view, it is difficult to consider an analogy with something as serious as abortion and see it the same way. is immoral,” Don Marquis explains why he thinks abortion is immoral, with a few rare exceptions. To me, that already weakens the whole argument. Although Thomson has weaker arguments to support some of her reasoning about the morality of abortion, at least she definitely sides with one side of the argument, rather than being mostly for or mostly against it. Like Thomson, Marquis does not approach the issue with the main argument of whether or not a fetus is a person. Marquis..