J.J. Thompson's Violinist Thought Experiment Concerning Abortion

[vulcanlogician]

 A woman, sitting in a hospital bed alone may consider the question for herself... without any regard to potential political coercion.

...can she?  Only in a world where no one is contemplating what they would do to her on account of it.  Not this world.

Sure she can. Even in this world.

She can say to herself, "These assholes outside the hospital room want to control my body. And they have all kinds of 'moral' justifications for their efforts. Sure. But the fact is, the rightness or wrongness of the act is independent of their coercive efforts."

Look at it this way: I smoke pot. Have for years. I grew up in a time when there was a mild moral stigma attached to it (small town Appalachia). At one point I weighed the moral implications of smoking pot for myself. I found that there was nothing morally wrong with the act... despite its legal status.... despite the attitudes, intentions, or coercive efforts of those around me. 

Women can do much the same concerning abortion. Anyone can do much the same concerning any moral reflection concerning any moral act. In fact, I consider dismissing social norms and mores for what they are STEP ONE for any genuine contemplation of ethics concerning an issue.