Abortion: Right or Wrong 1 “Never mind the vicious nonsense of claiming that an embryo has a “right to life.” A piece of protoplasm has no rights and no life in the human sense of the term. One may argue about the later stages of a pregnancy, but the essential issue concerns only the first three months. To equate a potential with an actual, is vicious; to advocate the sacrifice of the latter to the former, is unspeakable.” 2 “Through sonograms and other technology, we can clearly see that unborn children are members of the human family as well. They reflect our image, and they are created in God’s own image,” 3 “Responsible parenthood involves decades devoted to the child’s proper nurture. To sentence a woman to bear a child against her will is an unspeakable violation of her rights: her rights to the pursuit of happiness, and, sometimes, her right to life itself, even as a serf. Such sentence represents the sacrifice of the actual to the potential, of a real human being to a piece of protoplasm, which has no life in the human sense of the term.” 4
“Whether or not abortion should be legal turns on the answer to the question of whether and at what point a fetus is a person. This is a question that cannot be answered logically or empirically. The concept of personhood is neither logical nor empirical: It is essentially a religious, or quasi-religious idea, based on one’s fundamental (and therefore unverifiable) assumptions about the nature of the world.”
5 “One method of destroying a concept is by diluting its meaning. Observe that by ascribing rights to the unborn, i.e., the nonliving, the antiabortionists obliterate the rights of the living: the right of young people to set the course of their own lives.” 6 “We know that abortion damages women, sometimes forever. We know that in a ‘no-win’ situation like this we should all try for ‘damage limitation’. Abortion won’t make the rape not to have happened. On the contrary, it could make matters much worse. Difficult choice for childbirth is a choice to bring something good out of what is horrible and evil. It is a choice that won’t harm her as much as abortion, and will allow her to remember her generosity, courage and strength rather than the humiliation and violence of rape followed by abortion.” 7 “Abortion is a moral right which should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved; morally, nothing other than her wish in the matter is to be considered. Who can conceivably have the right to dictate to her what disposition she is to make of the functions of her body?” 8 “Abortion lets men off the hook. They can just walk away. Because abortion is easy to get, they can say to their partners: “It’s up to you to stop getting pregnant, and if you do get pregnant the problem’s for you to solve. It’s your body, it’s your choice.” 9 “Making the decision to terminate a pregnancy or to bring a fetus to term is by far the most wrenching experience I’ve ever had. The right to choose is not a luxury; it is a responsibility that demands intense introspection and awareness.” 10 “A truly civilised society protects everyone, even those who are not productive and active members. We no longer punish mentally ill people. We pride ourselves on the often amazing advances made in coping with physical and mental disability. So why do we go to such lengths to seek out and kill disabled people before birth? We will not eliminate disability in this way. Most disability is caused after birth by disease, accident or the process of growing old.” 11 “So how can Christian doctors and health professionals make a practical contribution to the debate about the new ethics of abortion? Whilst we must seek to protect the vulnerable fetus from abuse, we must never forget the human pain that lies at the heart of these complex issues. The truth is that many women (and their partners) in our society are carrying painful and secret memories of past abortions. Instead of criticism and judgement, our duty is to empathise, to enter into the experience of pain, despair and perplexity.”
© The Damaris Trust 2002