Restating My Thesis:
Premise 1: All acts that intentionally take the life of an innocent, human person are immoral acts and should be illegal.
Premise 2: Abortion is an act that intentionally takes the life of an innocent, human person.
Conclusion: Therefore, abortion is an immoral act and should be illegal.
This is a valid argument.
Which means, if the premises are true, then the conclusion is necessarily true. For more on validity and arguments go here. For a further treatment of my thesis go here.
Objections to my thesis tend to fall into one of the following categories:
- The objection on the being of the fetus.
- Objections from choice, privacy, and rights.
- Objections from the lesser evil.
- Objections concerning endangering the mother's life or women's health.
- The objection base on the Violinist Argument.
- The objection that I should not shove my morality down someone else's throat. a.k.a. "You cannot legislate morality."
In this post I address the third group of objections: Objections from lesser evil.
Objections from the lesser evil
A
third class of objections try to address the conditions that caused the pregnancy or of
the well-being of the child should it be born.
These include pregnancy as a result of rape or incest, pregnancy
occurring during an unfortunate time of the woman’s life, or pregnancy to a
woman who is unable to or unlikely to love and care for her child. This class of objections is often given by
those who may concede that abortion is wrong and not a matter of choice, but
that in these cases it is a “necessary evil.”
Those that offer these objections believe that, should the pregnancy go
to term, the woman and/or the child will be in such a predicament that it is
best to end the suffering before it gets any worse.
Response to objections of the lesser evil
Rape or Incest:
In the
cases of rape or incest we do not give the woman the right to later go and kill
the rapist (or the relative). And, if she
is not permitted to later kill the perpetrator of the crime, then why should
she be permitted to kill the result of that crime (i.e. abort the baby)? Will aborting the baby erase the crime? No, it only adds to the crime. Certainly we would not approve if the mother
decided to have the baby and seven years later look her child in the eye and
say, “You are a result of rape. Every
time I look at you I think about the incident and I just can’t take it anymore,
so I’m going to kill you and hope that the memory goes away.” Any person who thinks that of a child is in need of help, but he child needs to be protected nonetheless.
An embryo
is as human as a seven-year old, it is just not as developed. Age and location of the human are not
qualifiers for murder. Abortion in these
cases will not heal any emotional wounds.
Having the baby will not necessarily complicate matters either. The mother can give the baby in adoption or
keep the child herself. There are many parents suffering from infertility who are wanting to adopt and love a child as their own. None of us can predict the future and know for certain that the mother & child of unfortunate circumstances cannot bond stronger than others and have a love for each other that few others can understand.
Rape is one
of the worst crimes. I honestly would
applaud any woman who killed such an attacker as he is committing (or about to
commit) this crime. She is not the
taking of an innocent life by killing her attacker. I would give
her words of encouragement and consolation for the rest of her life, but if a
pregnancy should come as a result, then an abortion is not a moral option no
matter how painful that would be for us to accept. Sadly, even under such terrible
circumstances, neither of us have the right to take the life of this innocent
human being that is growing in her womb.
A child unwanted by his or her mother, regardless of the reasons why, is
not deserving of death whether they are in or out of the womb.
Inability to Care for the Child:
No one has the right to end the child's life even if the
child is wanted by the mother, but the mother is incapable of taking care of
the child due to financial, physical, emotional, or intellectual problems. Abortion is not the last resort. It should not even be an option because we
are dealing with innocent life. The
value of an innocent life far outweighs the emotional comfort of others. A child unwanted by his mother will most
certainly be welcomed by someone else.
The fetus of an incapable mother can most certainly be a child to a
capable, loving, adopting mother.
I have seen
children living in poverty yet smiling and laughing and playing with their
friends. We would be horrified if
someone came along and thought these children should die so they would not
have to live in this state of poverty.
So why would we think it is permissible to do the same to a child in the womb? Age and location of the human are not
qualifiers for murder.
Imagine if
someone came up to me and said: “Mark, a year from now you will be living in
poverty. We think it is best that we
kill you now so that you won’t have to go through life that way. Relax, we’ll be doing you a favor.” I imagine that my reply would not sound very
gentlemanly and my actions would likely become threatening to their physical
well-being.
In fact, I was suddenly laid off from work when my son was six-weeks old. My family went from "getting by" to "struggling." I had to swallow my pride and collect unemployment, food stamps, and WIC to provide for my family. Unemployment checks do not go far, my friend. I know. There are not many jobs out there for unemployed mathematicians. Yet, I grew to love my family more & more out of this experience. I became more aware of how much I love them by realizing how much I'd go through for them. My love grew during my weakness. I had a Masters Degree and I ended up stocking shelves for minimum wage, but I loved my infant son with all my heart.
Eventually I got a job teaching. It didn't pay much and I still struggled to pay bills. Eventually a better offer came along in less than a year. It's amazing how much life can change in a couple of short years. No one has the right to "predict" the future and think their making the right choice by taking an innocent life
Poverty or being unwanted is
not justification for taking an innocent life.
The pro-abortion arguments that abortion is sometimes the lesser evil are invalid.
End Note:
There is help for those who have participated in an abortion. Rachel's Vineyard is a wonderful resource and place for healing.
