Judith Thomson's moral rights of the fetus and the violinist analogy

¶ … Judith Thomson's views on the moral rights of the fetus. What is the conservative argument that she is questioning? What is the violinist analogy, and what exactly is the point of this analogy? Discuss two objections to her analogy (no straw man objections). Consider how she might best reply to those objections. Explain whether you think those replies to the objections are successful. (Defend your answer.)

Abortion has always been a divisive topic and some of history's most important thinkers have gotten actively engaged in discussing it. Judith Thomson attempted to raise public awareness concerning the fact that abortion can actually be justified as long as the circumstances make it possible for her to do so. By attacking the principal anti-abortion Thomson wants to demonstrate that murder can be acceptable and that an abortion has nothing to do with morality. The philosopher considered that one of the principal methods of defending abortion would be for her to discuss directly in regard to the strongest anti-abortion principles, as this would provide debaters with the opportunity to observe that their thinking is flawed and unjust.

While anti-abortionists typically relate to the morality of the process with the purpose of emphasizing that it is wrong, Thomson directly refutes this idea by speaking about abortions that are meant to save a mother's life or that occur as a consequence of the fact that the pregnancy results from a rape. From Thompson's perspective, abortion an also be considered morally permissible in a situation when the mother tried to use contraception and was unable to stop a pregnancy by doing so.

Thompson uses a situation in which a person wakes up near an unconscious violinist with the purpose of demonstrating her point. She claims that the violinist is one of the best artists in the world and that he needs to be constantly plugged to the kidneys of the person sharing the same room in order to survive. Unplugging him results in his death, thus meaning that this situation is relatively similar to a situation in which a mother has trouble deciding whether or not it would be right for her to end a fetus' life. Similar to the person sharing the room with the violinist, the mother has the right to unplug the fetus for her womb. Moreover, the mother has the right to perform abortion even if she was initially determined to have a baby. The decision is the mother's to take and it would be wrong for outside parties to intervene as this point. People see matters from an objective perspective and this means that they are unable to understand the more complex nature of the problem. The woman's choice is hers and hers alone and there is nothing that anyone can do in this situation. The fact that her body is hosting the fetus means that the woman has the right to do what she wants with her body and that she is entitled to search for individuals who can help her protect what belongs to her.