An Introduction to the Discussion about Abortion

Abstract

J. J. Thomson defends a liberal position, the “pro choice” view that an abortion is in certain circumstances morally permissible. The author argues that even if we assume that a fetus is a person with all the rights an abortion is morally permissible in circumstances when a woman is not responsible for a conception. This is the basis for women’s rights to autonomy, that is the right to the priority in decisions about her own body. In this paper we shall take into consideration discussions about two main questions, ie. about a status of a fetus and about women’s rights, consider the position of J. J. Thomson in the global discussion about abortion and at the end we will shortly present the basic lines taken by the critics of J. J. Thomson.