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Abortion: Life? Choice? Right?: Secular Arguments Against Abortion
Abortion: Life? Choice? Right?: Secular Arguments Against Abortion
Secular Arguments Against Abortion Richard Deem Evidence for God (www.evidence.info)
Abortion Arguments
Scientific considerations
Human Embryology 101 When does human life begin?
Legal Issues
Is the unborn a person? Are the laws logically consistent?
Moral Issues
When does a person begin to exist?
Scientific Arguments
When does human life begin? Medical textbooks Statements of doctors When does abortion occur? Products of conception just a blob of tissue
<6 7 8 >8
22 18 18 42
Therefore, 78% of abortions occur after fetal brain waves have begun
Elam-Evans, L.D., et al. 2002. Abortion Surveillance -- United States, 1999. Surveillance Summaries 51(SS09) 1-28. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
Scientific Conclusions
Human life begins at conception Human development proceeds rapidly (all organs and systems are in place by week 8) Abortion stops a beating heart Most abortions occur after the fetus exhibits measurable brain waves
Legal Arguments
Right to life Supreme Court decision Legal definition of murder Definition of murder exceptions Personhood issues
Right to Life
The Declaration of Independence of the United States guarantees certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
Moral Arguments
Benefit to women Benefit to child (every child wanted) Right to control their own body Population control Fetus is not a person personality argument
Benefit to Women
Prevention of deaths from coat hanger or back alley abortions Cases of rape or incest, fetal abnormalities or threats to mothers life or health Abortion alleviates economic and social problems
We spoke of 5,000-10,000 deaths a year.... I confess that I knew the figures were totally false.
Dr. Bernard Nathanson, (co-founder NARAL), testimony before the Supreme Court in 1972
? 615,831 763,476
24 25 26
41 21 7
Tietze, C. 1983. Induced Abortion: A World View. The Population Council, New York.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Center of Child Abuse & Neglect; National Analysis of Official Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting
Definition of Personhood
One who is consciously performing personal acts eliminates those who are sleeping One with a present capacity to perform personal acts eliminates those who are in a coma
Definition of Personhood
One who has a history of performing personal acts eliminates one who was in a coma from birth, but wakes up One with a future capacity for performing personal acts makes those who are dying as non-persons
Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates. October 2930, 1998
Slavery (1850s)*
Theyre not persons, but property