THE FACTS OF LIFE
A pro-life vs. pro-choice argument
(The Summary) - please refer back to the main article if something seems unclear.

The Issue: January 22, 1973, is the day that the Supreme Court decided in a 5-4 decision that abortion is a legal, personal right, and must be protected by law. Since then, over 46 million babies have been aborted in the United States alone – that’s 1.35 million per year, or 3700 per day. But even though it has remained legal, nearly everyone in the country has an opinion on the issue – pro-life, or pro-choice.

The Euphemisms:
Of course, no one is anti-life or anti-choice, so those titles aren’t really the issue. Each side feels confident in their opinion because one side focuses on a baby’s rights, and the other focuses on a woman’s rights. Pro-choicers label pro-lifers as “anti-abortionists” to cast a negative light on their opposition.

The Reality:
The problem about a woman’s right to do what she wants with her own body is that it’s not just her body once she is pregnant. Another human being is living within her, depending on her for life. No mother has the right to end her child’s life when the child is five years old, so why does she supposedly have a right to do it earlier?

Human Rights:
Is it alive? Is it human? If it is growing, it is alive. If it is the offspring of human beings, it is human. If it is alive, and it is human, it has the right to live and continue living. End of story. No other issue matters, not a mother’s rights, not a father’s rights, not anyone’s rights. Only the right to life.

The Evidence:
Medically, scientifically, biologically, an embryo or fetus is a human being. Nothing changes from the moment of conception except size, location, level of development, and level of dependency. These things continue to change throughout a human being’s life, such as between ages five and twenty, so none of these things warrant de-humanizing a tiny, baby human being. The same arguments that are used to de-humanize the unborn were used to de-humanize the negro slaves in the first 88 years of our country. You can argue, if you want, that a slave is his master’s possession and not a human being, or you can argue that an unborn baby is just part of his mother’s body – but you’d be wrong on both counts. Personhood is not a legal right granted by the government, or even the Constitution – it is “an inalienable right endowed by his Creator”, and every person has the right to live. Any argument to dehumanize a human being is a social injustice, not a matter of women’s rights or any other justifications.
Even the law is inconsistent in how it treats the unborn – a pregnant woman who is murdered will result in two life sentences. Also, an unborn baby eagle is more protected under the law than an unborn baby human – you can go to prison and be fined for damaging the egg, but not for having an abortion.

The Cop-Outs.
1. “...the cases of rape and incest.” Not only is this scenario less than 1% of all abortions performed each year, and therefore not really a good argument for keeping all abortion legal, but it is also not acceptable to follow one crime with another. The baby in these situations has done nothing wrong, and should not have to pay for the sins of its father. Killing a baby is not merciful, nor can revenge be an acceptable reason for murder. Two wrongs do not make a right.
2. “...the case of disability.” This is an issue of euthanasia, not abortion. There are many people who would have been euthanized under this scenario, who instead have made significant contributions to the world. One of the most well-known musicians in the world also was disabled – Ludwig van Beethoven. Abortion under this premise would have eliminated him before he could ever contribute to the world.
3. “...the case of a mother’s life being in danger.” This is not a voluntary abortion, this is a case of medical triage. In these cases (often seen on the battlefield of a war), the doctor must try to save the patient that has the better chance of survival. In almost all cases, this is the mother, and therefore is simply a tragedy. This scenario is the same as it would be for a mother who wanted to keep her baby. It is not an argument for keeping abortion legal for voluntary abortions – it is simply the tragedy of miscarriage, not the travesty of abortion.
4. “...keep abortion safe, so women don’t harm themselves.” So should murder be legal because people will do it anyway? Should rape be legalized so that it can be performed in a clean and safe environment instead of back alleys? Of course not. Furthermore, abortion is not safe, even in clinics. It causes damage, often irreparable scraping and scarring, to the mother’s uterus, and women have even died from complications. Abortions are an unnatural procedure, and the physical dangers alone are enough to make this argument moot. Not to mention all the emotional problems that millions of women admit to having after abortions.
5. “...how can someone say they are pro-life, but still support the death penalty?” This is less inconsistent than those that say they oppose the death penalty, but support abortion. The murderer has willingly forfeited his right to life, by denying that right to another. The unborn baby is innocent human life, the most helpless of all, and must be protected above all. While many pro-lifers also oppose the death penalty, no one in their right mind would say an infant baby has more reason to be executed than a convicted murderer. So why does an unborn baby have good reason to die?

The Reason(s).
So if abortion is so terrible, why are 3700 performed every day in the United States? There are several things that contribute to a woman’s choice to end her baby’s life. The number one reason, unfortunately, is simply selfishness. 95% of abortions are performed in the name of convenience, usually because the mother feels she cannot provide for a new baby. But the same logic could be applied to any parent who no longer could provide for their child – it would be ridiculous to allow them to simply terminate their child’s life. So why can a mother choose to end her child’s life, as long as she makes her decision in the first nine months? The second and third reasons that mothers choose abortion are that they feel they have no other option, and no one is allowed to help in their decision. They feel helpless, but because of privacy laws that are very specific to abortion, they are not given information about other options, nor is anyone allowed to do so in proximity to an abortion clinic. The father of the child has no ability to save his child’s life if the mother wants to abort it. There is no help in the decision except the propaganda being fed by the clinic itself, that it is merely a removal of tissue, as if the baby were a cancer, or cosmetic blemish. A minor can get an abortion, before she can even get her driver’s license, and in most states, she doesn’t even have to tell her parents, let alone get their consent. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but this is absolutely appalling, and entirely inconsistent with all aspects of law in this country.
People keep themselves ignorant of the unborn for their own convenience, and to justify themselves in their own selfishness, keep others ignorant as well. Because of this, 46 million people have lost their lives within 9 months of conception. Why is a wanted baby more valuable than an unwanted one?

The Conclusion.
I wrote this to present a reasonable, logical, and hopefully convincing argument against the travesty that is abortion. No country that kills its young can hope to survive long. If you are pro-life, I hope I have equipped you with some facts you didn’t know before, so that you can argue more effectively. If you are pro-choice, I hope I have challenged your viewpoints. I challenge anyone to present a reasonable, logical, scientific case that supports abortion. If you can prove that the unborn is not human, not alive, and therefore does not deserve the rights of every human being, I will relent. The problem is, you can’t do it. A woman should not be given a legal right to end her baby’s life, and the fact that we’ve allowed to continue for 34 years is absolutely tragic.



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