The Spectrum Argument, Round Two

So it seems that blogger Bob Seidensticker has decided to respond to my critique of his Spectrum Argument. You can find his original article here, and my rebuttal to it here, as well as Seidensticker's most recent response here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part IV

This will be the last part in a series responding to blogger Bob Seidensticker's response to pro-life arguments. You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here. And you can find the article of Seidensticker's that I'm responding to here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part III

This will be part three in my series of replying to Bob Seidensticker's rebuttal of pro-life arguments. You can find part one here and part two here. You can find the article I'm critiquing here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part II

In my last article, I responded to blogger Bob Seidensticker's first part of his response to certain pro-life arguments. You can find part one here. I now present part two, the original of which you can find here.

An Examination of "20 Arguments Against Abortion," Part I

So blogger Bob Seidensticker is at it again. This time, he has responded to 20 arguments against abortion and rebuts them. Many of the arguments he addresses are side issues and generally bad arguments, which I encourage pro-life people to avoid. A few of them are legitimately good arguments that Seidensticker misunderstands and misrepresents, then doesn't rebut appropriately. In other words, he attacks a strawman version of the arguments. And a few of the arguments he dismisses altogether by pointing to his Spectrum Argument, an argument that I have soundly refuted on this blog.

A Response to the Spectrum Argument

In my last article, I looked at blogger Bob Seidensticker's article regarding five emotional arguments for abortion. In this article, I'll respond to what Seidensticker has referred to as the "Spectrum Argument" for abortion.

A Response to Five "Intuitive" Arguments for Abortion

I was made aware of two articles by pro-choice blogger Bob Seidensticker on the Patheos blog. This article will be written in response to Seidensticker's article Five Intuitive Pro-Choice Arguments. My next article will be written in response to the second article.

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.

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.

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.

The Scourge Strikes Back

In my previous article, I responded to a thought experiment that was meant to parallel miscarriages. In this article, I'll respond to his arguments regarding what he sees as absurdities that result from the pro-life position.

Thought Experiment: The Scourge

Philosopher Toby Ord wrote an article called "The Scourge: Moral Implications of Natural Embryo Loss" (The American Journal of Bioethics, 8(7): 12-19, 2008). This is an argument that comes up somewhat regularly, but Ord concocted a thought experiment to illustrate the argument. The argument usually goes as follows: Some 50% of pregnancies end in miscarriages, which means that thousands of "unborn humans" die naturally. So to be consistent, you should advocate that doctors try and find a cure for miscarriages so that you can save all those lives that are lost. Ord begins with a thought experiment:

A Critique of Paul D. Simmons' Biblical Case for Abortion, Part II

In part one of this series, I responded to some philosophical arguments that Dr. Simmons had against fetal personhood. This article will respond to his claims regarding what the Bible says about the fetus. You can find Dr. Simmons' original article here.

A Critique of Mary Anne Warren's On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Part V

I have spent four parts in this series responding to Warren's argument that the unborn cannot be considered persons. Warren wrote her essay in 1973 in a publication called The Monist, but in 1982 she re-published the essay with an added postscript. One of the objections she was receiving to her paper is that it would also justify infanticide as well as abortion. She sought to reply to this claim in her postscript.

Who Robs Whom of Their Humanity?

I was asked to give my analysis of the views of Ann Furedi, a pro-choice advocate in England for an upcoming debate she's going to have with pro-life advocate Gregg Cunningham. I'd like to talk about one article in particular that she wrote, in which she argues that not allowing women the right to have an abortion is essentially robbing her of her humanity.

A Critique of Mary Anne Warren's On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Part IV

In part one, I examined Warren's claim about humanity, in part two I examined Warren's qualifications for personhood and showed why the unborn qualify, and in part three I examined Warren's two questions about personhood and showed that her position fails to disqualify the unborn from personhood. In this article, I will examine her argument about potentiality.

A Critique of Paul D. Simmons' Biblical Case for Abortion, Part I

I'd like to now turn my attention to an essay written by Paul D. Simmons, called Personhood, the Bible, and the Abortion Debate. Nothing saddens me more than when a self-professed Christian calls him- or herself pro-choice and actually defends the abominable practice of abortion. I'm not actually sure whether or not Dr. Simmons considers himself a Christian. I couldn't find a decent biography of him on-line. But an honest perusal of the Scriptures will show that God loves children, and would consider abortion nothing less than child sacrifice. Simmons' article is rather lengthy, so I'll be splitting it up into parts.

PZ Myers on Scott Klusendorf on PZ Myers

Internet atheist celebrity and biologist PZ Myers has recently gone on a podcast called Issues, Etc. to talk about abortion. Pro-life philosopher and advocate Scott Klusendorf later appeared on that same podcast to talk about Myers' arguments and give a response to them. I haven't heard much from Myers on abortion, except when he spoke up during a Q&A section during a debate between my friend Kristine Kruzelnicki and another internet atheist celebrity, Matt Dillahunty, in which he chided Kristine for her argument that embryologists are in agreement that human life begins at fertilization (at about 1:07:00 in the linked video). The problem is Myers is wrong and Kristine is correct. Embryologists are in agreement. Myers is just one in a long line of scientists who conflate scientific claims and philosophical claims, and don't seem to realize there is a difference between the two. The experts agree on when human life begins biologically. Where they disagree is at what point does the unborn human being become one that possesses inherent rights and value. In other words, basic rights like a right to life.

Stretton Debunked: A Response to Dean Stretton on Frank Beckwith

In part one of this series, I responded to an article by Dean Stretton responding to an article by Peter Kreeft. In this article, I'll be responding to Dean Stretton's response to a series by Frank Beckwith, called Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights. Again, it would be best to read Beckwith's articles, then Stretton's article, then my article for the full discussion. You do not have to read all of Beckwith's articles. Stretton does not use the fallacious arguments that Beckwith outlines in the first two parts, so you can skip ahead to the third part (though the first two parts are definitely worth reading).

A Critique of Mary Anne Warren's On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion, Part III

In part one of this series, I examined Warren's definition of human, and in part two I examined her argument about what a person is and showed why the unborn certainly qualify. This article will be the third part of five, in which I'll examine Warren's claims about the right to life.