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Abortion Links
Abortion:
Some Medical Facts
Abortion History Timeline
Partial-Birth Abortion:
Facts
Legislation
When Does Life Begin?
RU486
Abortion Alternatives
Pro-Life Response
to Abortionists' Arguments
Summaries
Argument 1: It's not a human being/person -- it's just a blob
of tissue
Argument 2: A woman has the right to control her body
Argument 3: "Every
child a wanted child," and other social arguments
Argument 4: Back-alley abortions
Argument 5: The hard cases
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"When They Say..., You Say..."
By Olivia Gans and Mary
Spaulding Balch
The first basic category is "It's not a human being/person, it's just a blob
of tissue." Within this you would place all the following pro-abortion
arguments:
1. The fetus is just a part of the woman's body
2. It's not a baby
3. An egg and a sperm are also human life; the fetus is only a potential
human being
4. It's not a person, it has no meaningful life
5. Don't impose your religion on me
6. A fetus is not a person until quickening
7. Life begins at birth
8. No one can really know that life begins before birth
The list can go on, but the basic argument is that the unborn child is not a
human being, from the moment of fertilization.
The response should always contain scientifically accurate facts about the
generic biology of every member of the species homo sapiens. It
should then apply those facts to the unborn child.
The primary focus of your answer is to restore a very real human face to
that baby.
When you do answer this question be aware that your response will probably
answer other pro-abortion objections as well, since the core of the entire
pro-abortion argument rests upon dehumanizing the baby. You will have
defined the real crux of the debate if you can solidly defend the scientific
reality that these are unborn members of the human family. How?
One simple but effective way is to start with a few "fetal facts." Highlight
the extraordinary amount of new and ever-growing information we now have
about the unborn child's life. Memorize at least three facts about early
fetal life, such as that the heart begins to beat at 18 to 21 days after
fertilization; that there are brain waves at six weeks; or that at eight
weeks all body systems are present, including little fingers and toes!
At this point in your answer it is important to remind your listener that
most abortions take place between the eighth and eleventh week of the
pregnancy - - about six weeks after the baby's heart has started to beat.
Don't be sidetracked by pro-abortion comments that typically come up. The
most common is to dismiss the undeniable facts of prenatal life as merely a
"religious" issue. Do not allow your questioner to discount the scientific
facts of life with misleading beside-the-point rhetoric.
In fact, it is precisely because of modern scientific understanding about
life in the womb that there are people of all faiths, and no faith, working
in the pro-life movement. The cause of the unborn is the ultimate human
rights issue. While it may be tempting, and may in some settings even
appropriate, to engage in a discussion of the theological origins for a
person's pro-life position, usually the religious
arguments are just another attempt by pro-abortionists to evade the powerful
truth you are presenting.
Remember, as you go about establishing the humanity of the unborn, encourage
common sense to prevail. For instance, since the baby is genetically unique
at fertilization, it is impossible to say he/she is just another part of
his/her mother's body.
Another theme often put forward is that a baby isn't one of us until there
is "meaningful" life, or until "ensoulment." Once again, recognize the
sidetracking going on. Help your listener to realize that it is dangerous to
apply an arbitrary yardstick of usefulness or other "quality of life"
judgment to determine who will be recognized as human beings with the right
to life and who won't be. Such illogical prejudice opens the door to
redefining any of us out of existence based on someone else's idea of what
is "meaningful" life.
The simple answer to all these related questions begins and ends with the
irrefutable scientific fact that at the moment of fertilization two separate
cells form one new life, genetically distinct in every way from every other
human being on earth. The color of our eyes, the shape of our hands, even
where we put on weight and when we will go bald was programmed into that one
tiny cell that we all began our lives as.
Stick with the "fetal facts" on this one. Throw in a little humor and horse
sense along with some well-developed images
of tiny little faces sucking tiny little fingers.
It will not be hard to tear down walls of apathy
or ignorance.
*This article originally appeared in December 12, 1997 NRL News |
