Even in the realm of abortion arguments, not all choices are equal in value.
Despite what the “abortion rights” advocates would have you believe, this remains the case.
They ignore this reality when they put the bumper sticker on their car, something to the effect of “If You Don’t Like Abortion, Then Don’t Get One!”
As if this is a good abortion argument.
LET’S ADDRESS THIS
The abortion lobbyists who make this argument do not even believe their own rhetoric.
Their shallow bumper sticker statement fails to defend the morality of the activity they are advocating. It says nothing about the humanity of the unborn and the morality or immorality of their slaughter.
The bumper sticker slogan also seems to argue all choices are equivocal, but this is inaccurate.
For instance, a man cannot choose to beat his wife. This “choice” of his remains an immoral one and deserves punishment and requires counseling for him (and I’d argue separation from her).
To say, “If you don’t like physical abuse, then just keep your hands to yourself,” would be entirely inadequate. That would be an act of condoning the violence. We can all agree that is unwarranted and no one should do that.
THE ANSWER
Because not all choices are good, some must be labeled bad. Bad because they hurt individuals, and they are harmful to society as a whole. Murder (which is what an abortion is) fits this description.
Killing innocent, preborn children is the greatest injustice. No one has a “right to choose” to do that. No number of abortion arguments can justify it.
Sure, in this country, there may be the legal right, but that does not give anyone the moral right, as I have discussed in the past.
How Persuasive Is This Bumper Sticker?
A WEAK PRO-LIFE ARGUMENT
So long as we are on the topic of bumper stickers and abortion arguments, I want to point out a weak one from the pro-life side as well.
You may have seen a popular bumper sticker that says, “Choose Life. After All, Your Mom Did!” or something similar.
This constitutes a weak pro-life argument, at least philosophically.
Just because one person did something, does not mean everyone should. This even applies to your mother. Just because she chose life for you does not necessarily mean every mother ought to choose life.
For instance, everyone ought to keep and preserve their bodily organs, in congruity with natural law. However, any one would have the right to ask a surgeon to remove a lung, if it had become cancerous, and for therapeutic reasons needed to be removed to allow that person to live longer.
Thus, although it is okay for the cancer survivor to lose a lung that does not mean it is okay for you to do the same.
That said, “Choose Life, Since Your Mom Did” remains a decent argument for the existence of Natural Law. After all, everyone owes their life to their parents, and without life, no one would be around to have an opinion about anything.
Respecting the dignity of human life and wanting everyone to live not only is best for society—an ingredient for Natural Law—but also fulfills our innate desire to preserve our own lives. We don’t want others taking our lives prematurely, so we all recognize the need to do the same to others, especially our own children.
So, this bumper sticker appears to me to be a weak philosophical argument, but a pretty good Natural Law argument.
YOUR TURN
How would you respond to the argument, “If You Don’t Like Abortion, Then Don’t Get One?”
And do you see my points about the pro-life bumper sticker, “Choose Life. After All, Your Mom Did!”?
What are some other weak abortion arguments?
