Ethical theorist, Judith J. Thomson's 1971 publication, A Defense of Abortion, states that abortion may be considered ethically tolerable even if one accepts the argument that several months before delivery, the fetus is already an 'individual', as a person's right to live is actually a right to not have his/her life "UNJUSTLY" taken and not simply a right not to have his/her life taken. Consequently, any mother who resolves to terminate her unborn baby's life justly has not violated the baby's right to live.
The major part of Thomson's work serves to outline a few scenarios wherein an individual may be justly taking a life. One scenario would be that of music fans attaching an individual's circulatory system with an unconscious musician's system for saving his life. While the former individual had not given permission to carry this out, he is now told that if the musician is unplugged, he would die. He is pleaded with to continue to stay attached and, hence, nearly disabled, for a whole nine months. According to Thomson, the individual would be performing an extremely kind deed indeed if he agreed to remain connected to the unconscious patient; however, he wouldn't be morally obliged to do so.
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