![]() We don’t have to sacrifice our freedom for someone else, even if this means that the other person is going to die. While it is true that fetuses have a right to life, Thomson argues that this right does not override the mother’s right to make decisions for herself. ![]() This argument relies on the principle of autonomy, or the freedom to decide what happens to one’s own body. In the same way, a woman does not have a duty to carry a fetus to term if she did not choose to become pregnant. Thomson argues that the woman does not have a duty to keep the violinist alive, because she did not choose to be connected to him. The violinist will die unless he is kept hooked up to the woman for nine months. Thomson uses the analogy of a woman waking up to find herself hooked up to an unconscious violinist. The basic premise of the argument is that even if a fetus has a right to life, the mother’s right to her own body is stronger. Judith Jarvis Thomson’s famous “Unconscious Violinist” argument is often invoked in debates over abortion. Judith Jarvis-Thomson’s famous “Unconscious Violinist” Teenagers only account for 9% of all abortions in the US and the majority of clients seeking an abortion already have at least one child. So it is not true that abortions will primarily benefit irresponsible teenagers who don’t know how to prevent a pregnancy. ![]() Almost half had the abortion in the first six weeks of pregnancy and.Almost 60% of persons seeking an abortion were in their 20s.According to the BBC (with 2019 data from the CDC): It is also the case that, while legal abortions are very safe, illegal abortions are not, and represent a significant health risk for the mother. An unwanted pregnancy can cause the mother to be unable to finish her studies, for example, or to get a job, potentially pushing a whole family into poverty. We also have to consider that the mother has her own life and perhaps the welfare of other, earlier-born children to consider. We will discuss the problem of when exactly the fetus becomes a human being below but even if we assume that the fetus is human, we still have to weigh the interests of two humans (the mother and the fetus) against each other. Our position paper explains in more detail how abortion will be regulated in the United Kingdom if it was decriminalised.Those who are pro-choice believe that a woman should have the right to choose what she does with her body. Decriminalisation does not mean deregulation.įor example, if abortion is decriminalised, it will continue to be an offence to sell or supply abortion-causing drugs without a valid prescription given by an appropriate practitioner. The professional standards, regulations and criminal and civil laws that apply to all other areas of clinical practice also apply to abortion. ![]() Decriminalised does not mean unregulatedĪbortion is subject to specific regulations and to professional and clinical standards. To inform the debate, we published a neutral discussion paper and an update in 2017.These provide a useful overview to some of the key legal and ethical issues.
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