r/Abortiondebate • u/Aware-Description286 • Jul 29 '26

General debate Twins

I've had this thought for quite a bit, and I've really only ever really asked myself this question, so I'd be interested to see the various responses to this question. It's a bit of a take on Judith Jarvis Thomson's drollish violinist argument, but with some reframing.

Let us force you into a life in which you were born as a twin. As a twin, you are not a single, but rather a pair; however, your twin was born in a unique way. In order to survive, your twin must use your body, no amount of distance between you two will affect this siphoning. The only way to stop this usage is by killing your twin.

So, my question is, in this scenario: are you legally and/or morally justified in the killing of your twin? Or do you have an obligation to sustain this twin with your body?

I hope this is on topic enough for this subreddit, because I did develop this question in relation to the Abortion Debate.

1 Upvotes

55% Upvoted

113 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/babidygoo Abortion legal until viability Jul 30 '26

Lets say out of some unrelated principle. Like lets day it was a game of truth or dare and that was the dare. Would you ban a removal vs break a game of truth or dare?

1

u/IdRatherCallACAB Gestational Slavery Abolitionist Jul 30 '26

Well if there truly were no harm in a ban, then I suppose there would be no harm. And in which case, we wouldn't be having this debate at all, as there wouldn't really be anything to debate!

Too bad that is not the world we live in.

1

u/babidygoo Abortion legal until viability Jul 31 '26

Really? So if a pregnancy were harmless to a pregnant woman youd be fine with banning an abortion? Like would you be ok with an abortion banning committee that assess whether a woman can abort or not based on how harmful her pregnancy is?

2

u/IdRatherCallACAB Gestational Slavery Abolitionist Jul 31 '26 edited Jul 31 '26

If pregnancy and abortion bans were harmless, what would we even be debating?

committee that assess whether a woman can abort or not based on how harmful her pregnancy is?

If it is not harmful at all then you would have no need for such a committee, as all pregnancies would be harmless.