Pro-life Reasoning

1. Pro-life Reasoning Neil Simpson

2. Contents • Introductory thoughts & hypothesis • Major categories of pro-life reasoning • Abortion kills an innocent human being • Abortion is bad for women – both physically and psychologically • Social issues • Biblical basis • Responding to pro-abortion arguments • Crisis Pregnancy Centers vs. Abortion Clinics

3. Resources used • Books • Pro-life Answers to Pro-choice arguments by Randy Alcorn • Stand To Reason web site (www.str.org) and tapes • Used for “Can I kill it?,” SLED, “Trot out the toddler” and other arguments

4. Abortion is a difficult topic that has touched nearly everyone’s life in one way or another. Our challenge is to share the truth, in love. We must be willing to risk hurt feelings, as the alternative has irrevocable consequences and is literally a matter of life and death. While abortion is a sin, it is forgivable because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. The Good News is that there is forgiveness, hope and healing in Jesus.

5. Some of you reading this have participated in the abortion process, so you know what abortion really means. Some people would have you believe that calling for an end to abortion is cold and heartless, and that it is kind to send someone to have an abortion. But you know better. Those people haven’t wept with you for your loss. You aren’t the same person you were then. Your regret tells you that what you did was wrong. Please have the moral courage to reflect honestly on your experience, so you can spare others the pain you have gone through. And, if you don’t know this already, be assured that Jesus Christ offers hope and healing to all. Modified from a passage in J. Budziszewski’s book, “What We Can’t Not Know”

6. Hypothesis • Many people intuitively know abortion is wrong, but aren’t prepared to explain why or to counter the pro-abortion arguments. • Hearts and minds will be changed more by one-on-one conversations than by sound bites and “in-your-face” demonstrations. • With sound questioning and reasoning you can point out the flaws in pro-abortion arguments • Women who have had abortions need forgiveness and healing, not condemnation. They need to know pro-lifers are on their side. • Our opposition is fierce • The media is 90%+ pro-abortion • “Follow the money” – many people get rich from abortion, but not from adoption and abstinence • Note: All arguments assume the life of the mother is not at stake

7. Suggested debating / discussion ground rules • Always be sensitive that the person you are talking to may have guilt or unpleasant experiences with abortion. • No name calling or “ad hominem” attacks (attacking the messenger, not the message) • Focus on how intellectual integrity requires us to follow the facts where they lead, not where we want them to lead. • Always be factual • Make a clear distinction between scientific and Biblical arguments. • Share the truth in loving way.

8. Why should you care? • Abortion is the #1 moral issue of our time. • It has impacted and will impact your life in one way or another – family, friends, acquaintances. • Does Jesus want us to care?

9. The stakes are high! • If the pro-abortion position is correct • Abortion is required to improve society. • Limiting the availability of abortions would be a huge step backward for human rights. • If pro-life position is correct • 99% of all murders are abortions • We are killing almost 4,000 innocent humans in the U.S. every day – more than the total killed in the 9/11 attacks. We have already killed more than twice the total killed by Joseph Stalin and Adolph Hitler. • Women will continue to be damaged physically and psychologically by abortions • Significant negative impacts to society

10. What would you recommend? • A preacher and his wife are living in tremendous poverty and have had 14 children, some of whom have died. Now she is pregnant with the 15th.

11. What would you recommend? • A preacher and his wife are living in tremendous poverty and have had 14 children, some of whom have died. Now she is pregnant with the 15th. • The father is ill and the mother has tuberculosis. They have 3 living children (one already died). One is blind, one is deaf and one has TB. Then the mother finds she's pregnant again.

12. What would you recommend? • A preacher and his wife are living in tremendous poverty and have had 14 children, some of whom have died. Now she is pregnant with the 15th. • The father is ill and the mother has tuberculosis. They have 3 living children (one already died). One is blind, one is deaf and one has TB. Then the mother finds she's pregnant again. • A white man raped a 13 year old black girl and she got pregnant.

13. What would you recommend? • A preacher and his wife are living in tremendous poverty and have had 14 children, some of whom have died. Now she is pregnant with the 15th. • The father is ill and the mother has tuberculosis. They have 3 living children (one already died). One is blind, one is deaf and one has TB. Then the mother finds she's pregnant again. • A 20 yr. old with no parents loses her college scholarship due to an injury and the boyfriend threatens to leave if she doesn’t abort. • A teenage girl is pregnant. She's not married. Unwed mothers face serious consequences in her culture. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby, and he's very upset.

14. If an abortion had occurred . . . A preacher and his wife are living in tremendous poverty and have had 14 children, some of whom have died. Now she is pregnant with the 15th.John Wesley,a great evangelist and founder of Methodism, would not have lived.

15. If an abortion had occurred . . . The father is sick and the mother has tuberculosis. They have 3 living children (one already died). One is blind, one is deaf and one has TB. Then the mother finds she's pregnant again.Ludwig Van Beethoven would not have lived.

16. If an abortion had occurred . . . A teenage girl is pregnant. She's not married. Unwed mothers face serious consequences in her culture. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby, and he's very upset.Jesus would not have been born.

17. If an abortion had occurred . . .

18. Major categories of pro-life reasoning • Abortion kills an innocent human being • Abortion is bad for women – both physically and psychologically • Social issues • Biblical basis

19. Abortion kills an innocent human being Note: Many of these points are from Stand To Reason materials (www.str.org)

20. Premise • Abortion can be a psychologically complex issue, but it is not a morally complex issue. • Typical reasons for women desiring abortions are psychological issues (pressure from the father of the unborn or from her family, economic impact, lifestyle impact, lack of desire to have children, fear, “not being ready,” etc.) • The sanctity of human life is a moralissue.

21. The main question: What is the unborn? • Imagine a child coming up behind their parents and asking, “Can I kill it?” • The question can’t be answered until one knows what “it” is. (A cockroach? A hamster? A little brother?) • So the real question with abortion is, “What is the unborn?” Only then can we decide if it is morally acceptable to kill it.

22. If abortion doesn’t kill a human being, then no justification is required.If abortion does kill a human being, then no justification is adequate.

23. Primary reasoning • Moral claim • It is wrong to kill an innocent human being • Abortion intentionally kills an innocent human being. • Abortion is morally wrong.

24. Do abortions kill innocent human beings? • Alive from conception • Distinct human being from conception • Body goes through difference forms/stages, but is always human. • Unique DNA structure at conception; contains all the information needed to develop throughout life • The sperm and egg no longer exist; you can’t undo them. • On day one of a woman’s pregnancy, the fertilized egg contains the plans for every detail of human development, including the child’s sex, hair and eye color, and height. • Valuable person from conception

25. Why “it” is a human being • Chromosomes - 23 + 23 • Basic biology – life comes from life • Never a point where non-life  life. • Connected to mother via umbilical cord, but distinct from mother • Always a human being, and always in the form it should be at that stage • He/she feels pain

26. Myth: “We don’t know when life begins” • Yes, we do. Logically and biologically, it begins at conception. A live sperm and a live egg form a live conceptus. • Even if we didn’t know when life begins, we should ask, “Is it possible that abortion kills an innocent human being?” • If yes, it should be illegal • If no, that is a very strong claim. Which part is impossible? • If uncertain, it should be illegal, as we must err on side of life! • Building implosion example – “Are there any people left inside?” If the answer is, “We don’t know,” then don’t blow up the building!

27. Planned Parenthood knew that abortion killed an innocent human beingFrom a 1964 Planned Parenthood advertisement promoting birth control:Is it [birth control] an abortion?Definitely not. An abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun. It is dangerous to your life and health. It may make you sterile so that when you want a child you cannot have it. Birth control merely postpones the meaning of life.

29. Murdering an innocent human is acceptable and even a moral good – but only if the mother agrees to do so Murdering an innocent human is the worst of all crimes, resulting in the full weight of the law coming down on the perpetrator. Pro-abortionists draw a line that they must justify and explain

30. Human Being vs. Personhood • Why aren’t the unborn considered persons? • What is rationale for each point? • Who created it? • Ask the other person if they were ever an unborn human in their mother’s womb, and where would they be if their mother had had an abortion? • Not a person? Try telling that to the couple that had a miscarriage or just saw a 4-D ultrasound. • The SLED principle - Arguments for abortion usually imply that the unborn aren’t persons because of their: • Size • Level of Development • Environment • Dependency

31. Size • Should abortions be legal because the human being is small relative to those already born? • Our society does not give additional rights to people who are taller or bigger. In fact, we tend to give more rights to those who are less capable of defending themselves (children, elderly, disabled)

32. Level of development • Do adolescents have more of a right to life than toddlers? • Do adults have more of a right to life than teenagers? • Do smarter people have more rights? If no, then why would unborn humans not have the same rights?

33. “But the unborn don’t have consciousness” • Neither do people who are asleep or in comas • To legally remove someone from life support who is not conscious (abortion fails on both counts): • You need to demonstrate that you are acting in that person’s best interests, as they would so act if they were conscious • That there is little or no hope of recovery.

34. Environment • The location of a human being doesn’t determine their worth or rights. Being in a mother’s womb should not reduce the value of a human being.

35. Dependency • Just because a pre-born human is dependent on the mother does not mean it is morally acceptable to kill him/her. • We don’t have the right to kill other people who are dependent • Babies • Disabled people • People in comas

36. I’m too pro-science to be pro-choice • Demonstrate that life begins at conception • Explain how you are taking the scientific view • Why this argument is so useful • Bursts the myth that you’re anti-science. • Bursts the myth that you are just pushing your religious beliefs on others. • Shows how others abandon the “We only trust what science tells us” falsehood to support abortion

37. Abortion is bad for women – both physically and psychologically

38. Abortive women have higher rates of: • Guilt • Depression • Suicide • Drug / alcohol abuse • Nightmares • Anxiety • Physical damage during the abortion

39. Post-Abortion Syndrome • This syndrome is real and very serious • Trauma • Guilt • Impacts to relationships • Substance abuse • Nightmares • Inability to forgive themselves

40. Sixty-five percent of American women studied experienced multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with 14 percent having all symptoms necessary for a diagnosis of abortion induced PTSD (Medical Science Monitor). • Women who abort are 30 percent more likely to have subsequent anxiety problems compared to women with unintended pregnancies who deliver. (Journal of Anxiety Disorders) • Women who abort are significantly more likely to engage in subsequent substance abuse compared to women whose unintended pregnancies are delivered. (American Journal of Drug Alcohol Abuse)

41. Health risks • Many women die each year from abortions (in addition to the pre-born) • Injuries during surgery • Fertility problems

42. Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan MP and deputy minister of the environment who was awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, said in an interview with a Norwegian newspaper that both unborn children and their mothers are victimized by abortion. "Both are victims. . . .When we allow abortion, are we [sic] punishing the women -- who must abort their children because their men have run away -- and we are punishing the children whose life is terminated," Maathai said. "But it is because we are not willing to put the men where they should be, and that is taking up the responsibility."

43. Other issues • Terribly negative impacts to marriages and the way other children are raised • The vast majority of gender selection abortions kill pre-born females. • 30– 60% of women have abortions due to pressure by men or family members (Forced Abortions in America - Springfield, IL: Elliot Institute, 2004) • Whose “choice” is it? • The demographic group most in favor of abortion on demand is young, single men • Abuse and threats are often involved

44. Have you ever changed your mind – especially while under serious major stress?What if a woman changes her mind about whether a child was “wanted” after she has the abortion?

45. Social Issues

46. Morbidly ironic quotes from 2004 “Reproductive Rights” March “I have to march because my mother could not have an abortion.” Maxine Waters, D-California “I just had to be here to fight for the next generation and the generation after that.” Carole Mehlman, 68-year-old, referring to her pro-abortion stance

47. Moral Schizophrenia • Society’s attitude towards disabled people outside the womb is generally favorable. Examples include: • Handicapped parking spaces, accessibility to buildings, etc. • Special Olympics • Many fund raisers to find cures and to help provide care • Society’s attitude towards unborn humans who may be disabled when born • It is OK, and often preferable, to kill them • Jocylen Elder, former Surgeon General of the U.S. said abortion "has had an important and positive public-health effect" because it reduced "the number of children afflicted with severe defects." She pointed out that "the number of Down Syndrome infants in Washington state in 1976 was 64 percent lower than it would have been without legal abortion." • She meant this as a victory of sorts, but what message does this send to the disabled and their families? • How long will it be until insurance companies pressure people to abort potentially disabled humans? • Disabled people are less likely to commit suicide, so they aren’t necessarily less happy.

48. Moral Schizophrenia • Society tends to look down upon women who give up their babies for adoption, even though: • that is a loving but very difficult thing to do. • it answers the dream of a couple who desperately want a child but can’t get pregnant themselves. • Society views women who have abortions as being in control of their lives and exercising their rights, or for supposedly preventing poor or “unwanted” children from coming into the world. • Some people prefer killing their unborn children rather than giving them up for adoption • “There is no way I would let someone else raise my kid.”

49. Moral Schizophrenia • Prescribe a medicine to a pregnant woman that damages the unborn and you are guilty of malpractice, but prescribe RU486 to kill the child and you are a great defender of women’s rights. • It is legal to kill an unborn human being up to the point of birth if the mother decides at any point in time that she doesn’t want it. • If a pregnant woman is assaulted or murdered and the child dies, then it is considered murder (“Connor & Laci’s law”) • Being pregnant and giving birth are joys to be celebrated – but only if the mother and father want the child.

50. Moral Schizophrenia • How can the value of a human being be determined by another human being? • How can the value have such a huge range? • Zero or negative worth if an unwanted pregnancy • Infinite worth if it the child is “wanted” • How can the value change from day to day • Feelings change, and a woman may not want the child at one point in the pregnancy and then want it later. • What if the woman changes her mind after the abortion?