Your body, but not your choice

Originally posted Friday, November 7, 2008 at 11:04pm

I don't usually do this, but I wanted to write on a controversial topic in response to the anti-abortion display on the South Oval this week. I am pro-life, but the purpose of this note is not to convince you to be pro-life too. I have neither the time nor the medical knowledge to do so effectively. Nor is my purpose to villify women.

Rather I seek to debunk one argument used by some pro-choice demonstrators, which can stated in various ways: "My body, my choice." "If you don't like abortion, don't get one." "Don't impose your beliefs on me." In any case, the argument states that the moral status of abortion is a personal decision and none of anyone else's business.

This is a rubbishy argument. Let me explain . . . .

1. Government has the responsibility of protecting people's rights, including the right to life; hence it must prevent murder. I assume the right to life to be the most basic and fundamental of all rights.

2. Government has the responsibility of determining who possesses rights; hence it must decide what constitutes murder.

3. The issue with fetuses is to decide whether they have the right to life, when they acquire it, and whether it is more or less important than a woman's right to use her body as she sees fit (i.e., by choosing not to remain pregnant). Personhood is a philosophical term denoting special moral or legal status (such as the possession of rights).

4. Virtually everyone opposes murder, so if one believes that abortion constitutes murder, it is perfectly reasonable to oppose abortion publicly and politically.

5. Slogans such as "My body, my choice!" "Don't push your beliefs on me!" and "If you don't like abortion, don't get one" only make sense if you ALREADY agree with the pro-choice position. To deny the truth of 4 is to deny me the right to act in a manner consistent with my beliefs.

6. Some people argue that faith should have no bearing on politics. This is inherently unfair, as I attempt to demonstrate below, because it would force me to base some of my political views off a worldview that I disagree with.

A person's views on abortion will be influenced by their philosophical and theological views (whether theistic or atheistic). For example, I believe all humans have a soul, and that human life is sacred, and therefore apply personhood very broadly. Others might base personhood on the possession of consciousness, which potentially raises thorny questions about the status of fetuses, newborns, brain-damaged or senile individuals, and profoundly retarded individuals.

Of course, my strategy in arguing over this topic would not be to try to convince you that fetuses have souls, but to discuss what fetuses look like at various stages of development, how different techniques for performing abortions work, potentially harmful effects for women, etc., in an attempt to make you view abortion as an inhumane procedure.