> Whatever you want to call it, it would be a pretty nasty thing to do in
the
> name of self-interest or personal liberty.
So what? Last I heard, doing nasty things was legal.
Suppose the link up would be for nine years? Suppose it was forever? Suppose there was a small-but-real chance that the person hooked up to the violinist would suffer permanent health defects, or even die, as a result of being used as someone else's life support system.
I don't think anyone would be comfortable calling for state-mandated personal sacrifice in such circumstances. But somehow, when it comes to enforced pregnancy - something that only effects women - people's comfort level with the idea rises immeasurably.
Barry
P.S. Here's a better statement of the argument, from the author.
I propose, then, that we grant that the fetus is a person from the moment of conception. . . .
But now let me ask you to imagine this. You wake up in the morning and find yourself back to back in bed with an unconscious violinist. A famous unconscious violinist. He has been found to have a fatal kidney ailment, and the Society of Music Lovers has canvassed all the available records and found that you alone have the right blood type to help. They have therefore kidnapped you, and last night the violinist's circulatory system was plugged into yours, so that your kidneys can be used to extract poisons from his blood as well as your own. The director of the hospital now tells you, "Look, we're sorry the Society of Music Lovers did this to you --we would never have permitted it if we had known. But still, they did it, and the violinist now is plugged into you. To unplug you would be to kill him. But never mind, it's only for nine months. By then he will have recovered from his ailment, and can safely be unplugged from you." Is it morally incumbent on you to accede to this situation? No doubt it would very nice of you if you did, a great kindness. But do you have to accede to it? What if it were not nine months, but nine years? Or longer still? What if the director of the hospital says, "Tough luck, I agree, but you've now got to stay in bed, with the violinist plugged into you, for the rest of your life. Because remember this. All persons have a right to life, and violinists are persons. Granted you have a right to decide what happens in and to your body, but a person's right to life outweighs your right to decide what happens in and to your body. So you cannot ever be unplugged from him." I imagine you would regard this as outrageous. . . .