ABSTRACT
Judith Jarvis Thomson’s text “A defense of abortion” is one of the most important philosophical investigations in medical ethics on pregnancy and abortion. The following paper analyzes Thomson’s argument with reference to two different concepts of autonomy that she raises in her text. Either concept can serve to answer the question whether abortion is justified in the case of an unintended or unwanted pregnancy not resulting from sexual abuse. The first is the responsibility position, which holds that a pregnant woman is an autonomous person responsible for the consequences of her actions and should therefore have the child, even though the pregnancy is unwanted. The second, the involvement position, states that the physical and psychological changes caused by the pregnancy are so grave and may lead to fundamental changes of her identity, that the woman’s need to defend her former self may justify an abortion. It is argued that Thomson does not address the responsibility position adequately, but gives reasons in her narrative to agree with the involvement position.
