Essay --

Abortion is a major debate in society today and has been an impassioned topic for decades. At issue is whether or not abortion should be permissible. Generally I support the idea of abortion given specific circumstances. If a woman becomes pregnant due to rape, she has no moral obligation to carry the baby to full term. It is a gross expectation for society to think a woman should give birth to a baby conceived from rape and to take care of the child as her own. In this discussion I will argue that abortion is permissible if the mother was a victim of rape. Judith Thomson is a philosopher that supports abortion. Judith starts off with her debate stating that â€Å"a fetus is no more a human than an acorn is a tree†. When does an acorn become an oak (Thomson 37-56)? The answer is that no one truly knows, there is no direct moment when one thing becomes another, it is the same way as a fetus. When does a fetus become a baby? Thomson uses the â€Å"famous violinist† analogy. In this analogy you are kidnapped, when you wake up in the morning you learn that you are connected to a famous violist who needs your kidneys for nine months. It is stated the violinist is an innocent person with a right to life whereas separating yourself from the violinist would kill him/her (Thomson 37-56). I believe in this case it would be moral to unplug yourself from the violinist, even if it means his/hers death. You did not consent to supporting the violinist for nine months and therefore you do not have an obligation to do so. This scenario can be used to support the victim who has been raped. If you have been raped you did not consent to sex or make a conscience decision to accept the ramifications from forced actions of copulation. Furthermore y... ... unjust aggressor who has violated the woman's dignity. Rape is an act of force and violence, unlike the conjugal love in marriage whereby both spouses give freely of themselves in an act of love. The woman who was raped is not responsible for the action, and thereby has the right to prevent the pregnancy or even stop the pregnancy through abortion. However, I agree with any arguments that state killing is wrong. I do agree that killing is wrong from the time the fetus becomes a human being, up to any age of an adult. People should not be allowed to take the life of another person as this is a crime. I believe that abortion should stay legal for several reasons; because women should have the right to make decisions regarding their own body and especially if they are a rape victim, and because they have the autonomy to exercise that right regardless of state laws.