Abortion: Conflicting Rights

1. Abortion: Conflicting Rights Mary-Anne Warren Judith Jarvis Thompson

2. Judith Jarvis Thompson’s Violist Analogy • Imagine you have been kidnapped & wake up in a hospital bed • A famous musician is in the bed next to you. He suffers from a mysterious kidney problem and his circulatory system has been plugged into yours • You are currently keeping him alive – if you unplug him, you will kill him • In 9 months he will be better & can be unplugged. • Would you unplug yourself?

3. Judith Jarvis Thompson’s Violist Analogy • Thompson’s analogy aims to justify abortion, even if the foetus is considered to be a person • According to Thompson, a foetus, like the violinist, has no rights over the woman’s body • No-one would expect you to stay plugged into the violinist therefore no-one should expect a woman to continue with a pregnancy she does not want. • To force the woman to continue with the pregnancy is to subject her to bodily harm as the foetus is abusing her body.

4. How useful is this analogy? • It only works if the woman has been raped • Pregnancy does not make a woman bed-bound • The foetus is not a stranger – it has a biological link to the woman • Responsibility to the baby will continue after 9 months

5. The feminist position • Claiming the right to abortion stems out of the rebellion against female oppression and patriarchal society. • Women’s role was primarily defined in terms of motherhood – equality was only really achieved at the latter half of 20th C • Mary-Anne Warren argued forcefully for women’s rights when it came to abortion

6. Mary-Anne Warren • Illegal, back street abortions lead to many women dying unnecessarily • Historically, women were forced to bear many children at short intervals & often died young – having a negative impact on society. • A teleogical approach would say abortion is good, for the overall health and wellbeing of society • Sex is an important part of life, accidents do happen and celibacy is not a viable option

7. Abortion must be permissible to maintain a woman’s right to life, liberty & self determination ( incl. freedom from bodily harm) • W.H.O. says unsafe abortions kill 200 000 women every year • Warren argues that killing in most cases is wrong, but to deny a woman’s right to abortion denies her basic human rights. • Judith Jarvis Thompson sees abortion as an issue of self defence – we have the right to kill in self defence & so women should have the right to abortion

8. A woman can legally deprive a man of his right to become a parent or force him to become one against his will. (Armin A. Brott) • How important are the rights of the father? • Do the rights of the mother always override the rights of the father? Why?