A few notes: (1) SPL doesn’t take a stance on the rape exception and invites bloggers to discuss both sides of the issue. (2) Because I’m talking about rape and pregnancy, I use female pronouns to refer to rape survivors. However, please remember that not all rape survivors are women. (3) I reference Thomson’s Violinist […]
New York City is not a good place for unborn babies. The area has long had an abysmally high abortion rate, and even after a recent reported decline, it’s double the national average. But now, the unborn children and born infants of NYC face another threat, one that is largely beyond the control of their […]
I’ve recently met a pro-choice blogger by the name of Deanna Young, who runs a blog called Restringing the Violinist. She has written a couple of articles defending the right to refuse argument, one in which she has linked to my article, so I’d like to take the time to respond. Forced blood donation analogy In the first […]
[Today’s guest post by Prayson Daniel is part of our paid blogging program.] Women’s rights clearly include their right to health and to make fully informed decisions regarding their bodies. Does a woman’s right to decide what she will and will not do with her body extend to cover actions affecting the fetus who may […]
For part one of this series, you can go here. For part two, this is where you should be. For part three, follow this link. And here’s part four. 7. Do parents have a special responsibility to their offspring? Throughout this series I have engaged Thomson’s analogies and found all of them to be lacking. […]
For part one of this series, go here. For part two, this is the place to be. And for part three, mosey on over this way. So far Thomson’s essay has suffered from many critical errors. None of her analogies have helped establish that a woman has a right to abort for any reason, except […]
For part one of this series, go here. For part two of this series, go here. Section 4. Is abortion unjust killing? Thomson begins this section by considering that “in the most ordinary sort of case, to deprive someone of what he has a right to is to treat him unjustly.” She illustrates this with […]
[Today’s entry is re-posted from “Yeah, but…“] We hear a lot about bodily rights during the abortion debate. Moving beyond the abortion debate to society in general, I think it’s clear that bodily rights are fundamental. It seems most other pro-lifers think it’s clear too. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a pro-lifer that says they’d […]
For part one of this series, click here. Section 1. The “extreme” pro-life view. [1] I agree with Thomson that the view that abortion is impermissible even to save the mother’s life is an extreme pro-life view. I believe that abortions are justified if the mother’s life is in immediate jeopardy. [2] She does wonder […]
Probably the most famous argument against the pro-life position is Judith Jarvis Thomson’s Violinist Analogy, in which you are attached, against your will, to a famous unconscious violinist to prevent his dying from a kidney ailment. I have already responded to the violinist analogy in previous articles. But within the original essay where the violinist […]
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