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Judith Thompson


            Judith Jarvis Thompson theses establish that abortion is always morally permissible. She argues that even if fetus does have the right to live, its life is dependent upon a body of a woman who is not morally required to permit a fetus to use her body to grow. Thus since a woman is not morally required to allow a fetus to grow in her body abortion is not morally wrong. Thompson's view is too broad and too far from the reality of the mother-child relationship to be strong enough to support the view that abortion is always morally permissible. This view is definitely simplified, and does not take under consideration the fact that termination of pregnancy means for a woman termination of life of her potential child, which is her "flesh and blood".
             Thompson argues that everyone has the right to decide what happens with his or her body and therefore if a woman chooses to terminate her pregnancy it is within her moral rights to do so. This view can be justified in case where pregnancy is a result of rape. The woman did not permit for the intercourse in the first place and attempted to stop it. Woman's body was used without her permission, and against her will, and thus she should be able to choose not to deal with the reproductions, and decide to get an abortion. (MLD, 222). Other than lack of permission to the intercourse, it is necessary to remember that rape des not only bring physical harms but also psychological harm as well. It would be extremely difficult for a woman to fully devote herself to a child that was a result of a rape, which for majority of women who experienced it is an extremely traumatizing experience. It would be unfair to a woman having to remember the experience every time she looked at the child, who also would be faced with trauma and felling of shame and guilt.
             Thompson's view can be justified in case of a rape but not when a woman voluntarily agrees to intercourse she has full knowledge that one of the consequences that corresponds with her actions is pregnancy.


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