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Full Idea
A newly fertilized ovum, a newly implanted clump of cells, is no more a person than an acorn is an oak tree.
Gist of Idea
A newly fertilized ovum is no more a person than an acorn is an oak tree
Source
Judith (Jarvis) Thomson (A Defense of Abortion [1971], p.125)
Book Ref
'Ethics for Modern Life', ed/tr. Abelson,R./Friquegnon,M [St Martin's 1987], p.125
A Reaction
This relies heavily on the philosopher's concept of a 'person', but it seems right to me.
| 4695 | Maybe abortion can be justified despite the foetus having full human rights [Thomson, by Foot] |
| 4696 | The foetus is safe in the womb, so abortion initiates its death, with the mother as the agent. [Foot on Thomson] |
| 4057 | A newly fertilized ovum is no more a person than an acorn is an oak tree [Thomson] |
| 4058 | Is someone's right to life diminished if they were conceived by a rape? [Thomson] |
| 4059 | It can't be murder for a mother to perform an abortion on herself to save her own life [Thomson] |
| 4060 | The right to life does not bestow the right to use someone else's body to support that life [Thomson] |
| 4061 | The right to life is not a right not to be killed, but not to be killed unjustly [Thomson] |
| 4062 | No one is morally required to make huge sacrifices to keep someone else alive for nine months [Thomson] |