I am a pro-lifer for very particular reasons. I am not pro-life because “the Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.” I am not pro-life because I want to fit in with Christians at my church. I am not pro-life because I hate women who have abortions. I am not pro-life because it fits with a particular political party’s platform. I am not pro-life because you have to be if you’re a real Christian.
I am a pro-lifer because of the answer to one simple question: What is the unborn? Let me illustrate. If my teenage daughter asks me, “Dad, can I kill this?” what question must I answer first before I can answer that?
“What is it?”
If I turn around and she’s holding a spider she found in the house, no problem. If she’s holding the neighbor’s cat, I’ll look to see if my wife’s within earshot and then tell her, “Sure, I can’t stand that cat” (I’m sorry, I’m sorry—I’m not a cat-lover). But if she’s holding her kid brother who’s been pestering her, I’d have to tell her, “Lexi, put your brother down and slowly walk away.” You see, I must first answer, “What is it?” before I can answer, “Can I kill this?”
If the unborn is not a human being, no justification for abortion is necessary. But if the unborn is a human being, no justification for elective abortion is adequate.
So, is the unborn a human being? Yes and here’s why:
(1) If the unborn is growing, it must be alive. And if it has human parents, it must be human. Living human beings, like you and me, have a fundamental right to life, don’t they?
(2) There is no proper justification for parents to kill their newborn children. How about poverty? Single parenthood? Rough circumstances? Of course not. Parents of newborn children cannot kill their children for any of these or other reasons. And there is no morally significant difference between the unborn and the newborn. This can be demonstrated through the S.L.E.D. test. Therefore, the unborn child’s life should be protected just like the newborn’s.
Of course, there will be objections. But carefully examine each. Most will beg the question and simply assume the unborn is not human. We’ve dealt with most of them:
- “I don’t think that anybody has the right to object to abortions unless they’re willing to take care of all of the unwanted children brought into the world if abortion was made illegal.”
- “What about unwanted children?”
- “Women will be forced into back alleys and illegal abortions.”
- “What about rape?”
There are other important questions to answer but this is the first and most important. Before we discuss how to help women or what the legal ramifications might be, we must first get clear on the logic of the pro-life position.