The strongest pro-choice argument

Over the past year, I have noticed that most thoughtful, philosophically-bent pro-life websites that I frequent consider variations of Judith Jarvis Thompson's Violinist argument to be the strongest argument in favor of legalized abortion. Two excellent examples include Secular Pro-Life Perspectives, who has published entire series on this topic, and Life-Report, who has focused podcasts and written reports on this question. Indeed, the only time I have really tried to think rigorously about an argument was in relation to the violinist.

I now find the pro-life obsession on these types of arguments rather confusing, both because it is not a particularly strong argument in favor of completely elective abortion (in fact, it only absolutely applies in pregnancies due to rape), and because it is not an opinion that many thoughtful pro-choice academics, as well as average pro-choice plebeians, share.

Rather, the central question in both the grass-roots and glass-tower abortion debates is the nature of the embryo/fetus/baby. Stated more simply, when does meaningful life, worthy of protection, begin? Is all human life truly worthy of protection?

These questions lead those who wish to rationalize abortion to the strongest of the pro-choice arguments. And, indeed, we can see their effects in the publications of medical ethics journals, in the actions of biologists and geneticists, in the fertility industry, in the nature of the euthanasia debate, and in the intuition of the average Canadian citizen. So I believe it is worthwhile to spend much more time on the philosophical implications of a pro-life or pro-choice set of beliefs, especially in regard to the human who's life is truly at stake.

This is not to say that there hasn't been a huge focus, both by pro-lifers and pro-choicers, on the nature of the embryo. But almost without fail, the discussions that the average person curious about the morality of abortion have access to have been poor, emotionally charged, and philosophically vapid. I truly think it is rare to find a non-expert who has really spent time investigating their own beliefs with regards to the value of human life, and this has lead to much public discourse around abortion that is both useless and often quite nasty.

To that end, I downloaded the entire current issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics (May 213, Volume 39, Issue 5). This journal recently created a storm of controversy after publishing Giubilini and Minerva's now infamous article: "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?". Because of the response the article received, the JME has now published an entire issue focused on this specific question.

So, over the course of the next few weeks I will be reading each article and posting a corresponding analysis. I know it is hard for many people who were raised in the Christian world-view to understand how this could even be a debate, because ... well, of course the baby should live - all human life is sacred! But this is not a good counter argument, and a Christian education is not the kind of education that the average Canadian, or indeed, person in any country has received. Additionally, the sanctity of all human life has certainly not been considered obvious for many human societies throughout human history - including ours.

So without further ado, I introduce you to my newest series of blog posts: The strongest pro-choice argument. I want these posts to be as thoughtful, rigorous, and academic as possible, so my goal is to post approximately one a week - though it is entirely possible it will take me much longer to make my way through the supplementary literature. Either way, I look forward to this endeavor as a way to help myself understand my own views with regards to human life, and hopefully to enlighten my readers on their own biases and unexamined opinions.

As Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living. :)

P.S. The entire JME issue appears to be open access at the moment (I downloaded the entire thing while I was at Starbucks, without having to sign into the school's library account), so if you are curious to read the original papers yourself, download them now before you will have to pay to read them!

Abortion as Birth Control

Someone needs to tell these people that they are doing no favours for the pro-choice movement.

I have no doubt that there are many, MANY women who face an agonizing decision when they choose to abort. I have no doubt that there are many women who are coerced or forced into killing their children by abusive partners, parents, or even friends.

But then there are women like this, who see abortion as no different from birth control. And I see this opinion expressed widely in my post-graduate peer group. There are many, otherwise smart and compassionate people, who see sex as so necessary to their happiness that they see tearing apart an unborn baby as no different from using a condom. Is is this precise reason that I believe that promoting birth control in no way helps pro-lifers promote a culture of life. Sure, maybe some abortions would be prevented, but no one would be convinced that a baby is a human being deserving of respect and life. Instead, we have people like Lisa, who would gladly turn to abortion if her birth control were to fail.

How do we go about changing opinions like these?

By the way, she tweeted this in response to my post, Discouragement.

Video of the Week: Sr. Antoniana Maria on The Sisters of Life

This is a beautiful interview from Sr. Antoniana Maria about her vocation to become a nun with the Sisters of Life.

Quote of the Week: "My baby's alive"

Failed abortions do happen.

Former abortionist Dr. Paul Jarrett tells of one of his experiences:

"Since hypertonic saline was so toxic if it was injected into the uterine wall instead of the amiotic sac; there was a constant search for the ideal drug. Prostaglandin has now become the drug of choice, but one of the early experiments was with hypertonic urea. The pajor disadvantage in using it, was the problem of live births. I remember using it on a patient that the psychiatric residence brought to us from their clinic from an institutionailized patient who really was crazy. I'll never forget delivering her nearly two pound baby, and hearing her screams, 'My baby's alive, my baby's alive.' It lived for several days."

Read more from clinic workers and abortion doctors at Clinic Quotes.

And don't forget, Planned Parenthood believes that a baby born alive after an abortion should be treated or killed according to the mother's and doctor's wishes.

Why the abortion debate is still not about bodily rights

Most pro-lifers agree that the strongest argument for the legality of abortion is the bodily rights argument. In fact, there's been recent chatter in the pro-life blogosphere that bodily rights is what the abortion debate boils down to, and that we should be focusing on these arguments in order to win public opinion to the pro-life side.

But while I agree that bodily rights are an important part of the pro-choice philosophy (and are, in fact, the only "good" - though not necessarily strong - argument in favour of abortion in my opinion), we Canadian pro-lifers should not make that our only focus.

Why?

Because abortion is not about bodily rights.

If it was, late term abortions would be illegal across the board. After all, birth can be induced, and with proper treatment, the baby would survive. But in Canada, there are no laws restricting the availability of abortions, regardless of the age of the baby.

Instead, we find that bodily autonomy is not the real reason that pro-choice advocates are in favour of abortion. If it was, we would not have the average abortion advocate:

At a time when there is a chance that a 21-week-old (~5-and-a-quarter-month-old) baby can survive birth with almost no developmental complications, this kind of sentiment is so tragic. And it demonstrates how the debate is still not about about bodily autonomy. However, it is about personhood. It is about what the unborn baby truly is. It is about the value of a life.

If you want to know how to talk about abortion with a pro-choicer who believes that aborting a baby in the womb at any time, for any reason, is a moral choice, go to Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform's website, and get educated.

Gosnell by the Numbers

created by the Pennsylvania Family Institute

Discouragement

For me, one of the most discouraging things about being pro-life is seeing what other people think of the abortion issue and how cavalier or celebratory they are with regards to issues surrounding the grossly misnamed "reproductive freedom" issue. I just can't understand how someone, even someone who supports abortion in most cases, can be happy about the fact that abortions occur at all. Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, is it not a tragedy when someone decides that they aren't able or don't want to help their own family live? Mom's having abortions because they can't afford their children, or because they found themselves in a situation where they don't want to be attached to the father, or because their family or partner is not supportive of any choice other than abortion, or because they aren't given the resources necessary to raise a special needs child.

The fact that abortion happens is not a good thing. This is our culture refusing to help mothers and children in need, and pushing a "quick fix" solution towards moms who find themselves in less than ideal circumstances. The existence of abortion is a tragedy.

Which is why things like this make me so sad:

Free abortion for all women - yay!! This isn't about killing our children, no, this is about having freedom! This isn't about helping women and children escape their circumstances, no, this is about having rights! 

How do you convince people that they support something that has caused the deaths of billions of people? How have we gotten to the point where this is even something that has to be done?

Sometimes this world is just so discouraging.

At least things like this really highlight how necessary it is for those of us who are pro-life to speak up and engage our peers. It can be so difficult to do sometimes, but it is so, SO necessary!