The only situation which would justify abortion would be to save the mothers life. Discuss this statement.

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“The only situation which would justify abortion would be to save the mother’s life.” Discuss this statement

When analysing this statement, there are several different factors that should be taken into consideration, these are: women’s rights, personhood, the sanctity of life and the normative ethical theory. Abortion is and always has been an extremely controversial subject and there have been many laws and acts enforced however even today there is still a lot of discrepancy over the issue.

Firstly, there is the issue of women’s rights. These rights form a large part of the general issue of abortion. Many perceive abortion in terms of the foetus, not the women, her life and her place in society. There was a famous feminist philosopher called Ellen Willis who believed that under all circumstances women should have complete control over their own lives and their bodies, “can it be moral, under any circumstances, to make a woman bear a child against her will?”

In a case called ‘defence of abortion’ in 1971, Judith Jarvis Thomson said that in cases whereby women are pregnant against their own will, i.e. rape, then a woman owns her body so she has more right to live and more right to claim her body than the foetus does. She also said that as an act of self defence, women should be able to act, especially as unwanted pregnancy causes physical strains to women. Thomson compared the Foetus and Woman to tenants and owners; she stated that they are not equal rights. A foetus is ‘using’ the mother’s body, so it can be compared to a tenant and not an owner. Therefore, the mother can be referred to as the owner, ultimately having more control. One of Thomson’s key arguments is that a woman has no obligation to be a so called ‘good Samaritan’ if that involves putting herself at risk. Thomson is criticised because she does not completely justify foetus extinction, just extraction upon the woman’s rights.

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Another stance to the argument, and one that several feminists take up is the issue that a woman has a right to her own privacy. If this is agreed with, then women have the right to make the decision as to what they think is best for themselves and for the foetus, this can potentially inhibit the extinction of the foetus. A feminist called Christine Overall thinks that it is immoral not to respect the personal preferences of the mother for several reasons. Firstly, it is a violation of the mother’s autonomy to keep the foetus alive if that’s ...

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