Here is a link to Frank Beckwith’s recent column discussing Judith Jarvis Thomson’s famous article entitled “A Defense of Abortion.” http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/thomsons-defense-of-abortion-at-forty.html In the article, Thomson presented the violinist analogy. Frank’s discussion in this column criticizes Thomson’s analogy for “not really granting the pro-life view of persoonhood.” He concludes this column with this paragraph:
“Because of these institutions and ways of life – that have existed for generations and do not require one’s consent in order to have normative force – we often find ourselves in a network of relationships in which we are called upon to love those who sometimes can offer us very little in exchange for the good we provide to them. If Thomson had assumed that view of personhood for the sake of argument, her case would have collapsed.”
Richard M.