According to Thomson, "I have throughout been speaking of the fetus merely as a person, and what I have been asking is whether or not the argument we began with, which proceeds only from the fetus's being a person, really does establish its conclusion. I have argued that it is indeterminable."

Question

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Judith Jarvis Thomson, in her famous essay "A Defense of Abortion," argues that even if the fetus is considered a person from the moment of conception, this does not automatically grant it a right to use the pregnant woman's body against her will. She uses various thought experiments, including the famous "Violinist" scenario, to illustrate her point that the right to life does not include the right to use someone else's body to sustain that life. Thus, she does not claim the argument is indeterminable but rather challenges its conclusion by introducing considerations of bodily autonomy.

According to Thomson, "I Have Throughout Been Speaking of the Fetus