Reply #9: I disagree with what you think is the weakest argument [View All]

[Selwynn]

I think to get into a debate over where "life" begins is a mistake. For one thing, the people saying "abortion is murder" are even the biggest problem. The strongest argument against abortion is the no-abortion/no-death penalty stance that argue that in the case of the unborn, regardless of where life beings the mere potential for life is sacred.

Anyway, that doesn't matter - it is an absolute mistake to go down to their level and argue about it as a moral issue. We need to keep the issue always and forever about these things:

1. pro-choice is not the same thing as pro-abortion, it is a stance that supports the right and need of a woman to make medical decisions about her own body in consultation with a doctor.

2. Pro-choice acknowledges that the abortion issue is one of the most, if not the most, difficult and complicated issues causing people to ask medical questions, philosophical questions, ethical questions, etc. It is an issue that requires much deep soul searching. I refuse to let the government take away the right of woman to wrestle with this complicated issue PRIVATELY and come to personal decisions about their own lives and bodies.

Those are the points, I believe. I don't want to get into a debate over the "abortion is murder" phase because to me it is just a way to cheapen this argument. Not only that, but the fact is that abortion is about causing something living to not live anymore. Is it a baby? No. Is it murder? No, in very much the same way that scratching skin cells off your is not murder even though it is taking something that is living and making it not live anymore. But the issues center around personal rights to struggle with personal questions and person rights to make medical decisions privately and without interference of the state. To me this is much better than bringing the issue of abortion "down" to the level of the "baby killers" crowd.