The Logic of Abortion
Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Friday, September 19, 2008 9:45 AM
At my little Catholic college I took a required philosophy course in which we examined a large number of issues that are relevant in the world today. I love reasoned argument so the class was fun for me. It was also useful - many of the issues we discussed have come up in my post-college life - but by far the most memorable thing I learned in the class didn’t have anything to do with a particular argument; it was a general principle that our professor taught us early in the semester.
When discussing philosophical principles and arguments, he told us, don’t use the phrase “I believe.” It implies faith, but philosophical arguments do not require faith. They should be convincing on their own merits. Instead, when discussing a philosophical principle, say that you are “convinced” by it, because that is the truth.
This is never more important than when arguing about abortion.
It is fitting and good that the Catholic Church and many Protestant leaders should speak out on the importance of protecting the unborn, and we appreciate it when they do. Unfortunately, the secular, pro-abortion-rights culture takes advantage of the chance to muddy the issue by portraying the protection of unborn children as a “religious issue.” We Christians believe the unborn are people, they say, and that’s fine for us, but we shouldn’t be able to force the tenets of our faith on fellow citizens who do not share them.
Actually, the truth is that the rights of the unborn can be defended on purely philosophical terms, without bringing God into it at all. And this is something that we pro-lifers should practice doing, and take every possible opportunity to do, because it is the strongest way to make our argument.
It’s not even a very complicated argument. There are several ways to approach it, but I can give you the basic structure of my favorite approach in four steps:
1. We agree that it is wrong, and should be illegal, to kill innocent human beings.
2. We agree that this is true for infants, adults, and the elderly, for the disabled and sick as well for the healthy, and for all human beings regardless of where they are at the time. Therefore we agree that the protection of the innocent does not depend on age, development, or location.
3. From the moment of conception, embryos are unique human beings, who only differ from us in age, development, and location.
4. Therefore, abortion is wrong and should be illegal.
Now, I’ve had plenty of discussions with pro-choice people in which they challenged one of my premises, or the logic with which I move from premises to conclusion. The one thing they can’t do, though, is dismiss my entire argument as “religious,” meaning subjective to my own beliefs, because I haven’t brought God into it at all. It makes the whole argument much more useful, and has made my own discussions on the topic a lot more productive.
I think that we pro-lifers could advance the pro-life cause if we were careful about making sure that the people we talked to understood that our opposition to abortion can be defended on purely philosophical principles. Imagine if our opponents couldn’t use the diversionary tactic of “well, those are just your religious beliefs.” It would be great!
For familiarizing oneself with the philosophical issues surrounding abortion, I especially recommend the works of Peter Kreeft, who is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. His book Three Approaches to Abortion is great, and his website has has some recordings of talks he’s given on the subject.
If anyone else knows of some good resources that attack abortion from a philosophical perspective, please share them in the comments section!
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