Being Pro-Life Means Respecting Human Dignity

We all know that the reason we consider ourselves pro-life is because we believe in respecting the life of the unborn. The right to life is the most fundamental of all human rights, so that is the right that holds the most weight in the moral equation. But did you know that the pro-life position is also the position that respects human dignity?

AHA: Unfounded Rumors and Actual Arguments

So it's time for another post about Abolish Human Abortion. My reason for this post is two-fold. First, there's a rumor floating around about them that I want to clear up. I am interested in truth, and in the interest of truth any unfounded rumors need to be quashed. Now it needs to be said that they really make it difficult to want to help them, because even in the course of damage control, they still couldn't resist the opportunity to take pot-shots at pro-life people like me, who believe that incrementalism is the most tactical way that abortion will be stopped, and they insist on this artificial distinction between "pro-life" and "abortion abolitionist."

Should Christians Support Abortion Because Aborted Babies Go to Heaven?

This is a rather barbaric argument that I occasionally come across from a pro-choice person who wants to score rhetorical points against a pro-life person. The statement, of course, would only work against a pro-life person who believes in Heaven. The argument goes like this: Babies go to Heaven. The unborn are babies. So we should allow abortion because it sends them directly to Heaven, rather than letting them grow up and risk going to Hell? The argument is obviously made by someone who has absolutely no understanding of Christian theology.

Abortion Quote of the Day 05

I've been encountering a lot of people lately who deny the biological humanity of the unborn. Here's a pro-choice philosopher who understands human biology:

"Perhaps the most straightforward relation between you and me on the one hand and every human fetus on the other is this: All are living members of the same species, homo sapiens. A human fetus after all is simply a human being at a very early stage in his or her development."
--David Boonin, A Defense of Abortion, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2003, p. 20.

Return of the Scourge, Part II

In the previous part of this series, I addressed empirical objections that Ord anticipated. Now I will respond to his anticipated philosophical objections. See here and here for the first two parts in this series.

This Week's Recommended Post 05

For today's recommended post, I'd like to highlight my friend Timothy Brahm's essay in which he adapts the "love chapter" of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, into an appeal to the pro-life movement to make love of the pregnant woman and pro-choice advocate, on top of love for the unborn humans we are trying to save, the hallmark of their outreach. It's really a marvelous piece. Check it out:

Memorized and Meaningless? A Fresh Look at 1 Corinthians 13

20,000 Views

So my blog has now reached 20,000 views! A big hearthy thank you to everyone who reads, and I'd like to continue to encourage you to leave comments. I love to hear feedback, whether positive or negative, and if negative then I'd love to talk more about what you disagree with. I actually reached 20,000 views, but I didn't want to post before my article Why I Am Pro-Life went live so that the article could be my 100th post on this blog.

Why I Am Pro-Life

Now for a moment of rare and complete candor from me. I've been wanting to write this article for a while now, so I feel that it's time to set out to explain exactly why I'm pro-life. I believe that the arguments for the pro-life side are much more powerful and have greater explanatory power than pro-choice arguments. But that's not the whole story as to why I'm so passionate about saving unborn human beings.

Why Pro-Life People Need to Become Amateur Philosophers, or Why I Don't Think the Current State of the Pro-Life Movement is as Effective as it Could Be

Today, on a very special episode of...wait, no, that doesn't work. I've decided to post an article on a special day, Saturday, because of something disturbing that I witnessed last night (and for a few weeks now). I've titled this article Why Pro-Life People Need to Become Amateur Philosophers, or Why I Don't Think the Current State of the Pro-Life Movement is as Effective as it Could Be. Longest. Title. Ever.

10 Reasons Not to Have an Abortion

As I mentioned in my last article, I would compile a list of reasons not to have an abortion. This is to counter Mommyish's article 10 Reasons to Have an Abortion (even though she only came up with nine). So without further ado, here are ten reasons not to have an abortion, in no particular order and without images to distract from the arguments.

Abortion Quote of the Day 04

This quote comes from Mary Anne Warren, whose article, On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, I recently critiqued and dismantled. A common argument in support of abortion is that if abortion is made illegal, women will resort to back alley butchers or use coat hangers. Warren recognizes that this is not an argument in support of abortion.

"The fact that restricting access to abortion has tragic side effects does not, in itself, show that the restrictions are unjustified, since murder is wrong regardless of the consequences of prohibiting it."
--Marry Anne Warren, "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion," in Joel Feinberg, et al, The Problem of Abortion, (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1984), p. 103

10 Reasons to Have an Abortion?

So I've been made aware of an article on a website called Mommyish, 10 Reasons to Have an Abortion -- Illustrated by Adorable Cats, and written by Eve Vawter. Let's be honest here. Most of her reasons are without substance, so the cat pictures are there to make her argument more emotionally compelling so that you don't notice the flawed reasoning (after all, why would you post cat pictures in an article talking about the death of human beings in an attempt to be "cute," especially if you recognize that most women don't make the abortion decision lightly and since most of the cat pictures don't even illustrate the reason they are included with?). While I think a parenting website is hypocritical to celebrate parenting and support abortion, I agree with Ms. Vawter that one can be pro-choice and be a good parent. As she indicates, the two are not mutually exclusive.

This Week's Recommended Post 04

This week's recommended post is by my friend and pro-life mentor, Josh Brahm. The post in question talks about an argument that many pro-life people haven't utilized but is shaping up to be a very effective and powerful argument when shared with the average pro-choice person. Check it out:

The Most Undervalued Argument in the Pro-Life Movement

AHA Is At It Again

I've written two articles on Abolish Human Abortion (AHA), so I guess you could consider this take three.

Return of the Scourge, Part I

As my conclusion, I will now respond to certain objections that Ord anticipated. I was hoping to get this done in one part, but due to the length, it will contain two parts. See here and here for my previous parts.