1. "It is uncertain when human life
begins; that's a religious question that cannot be
answered by science. "
1a. If there is uncertainty about
when human life begins, the benefit of the doubt
should go to preserving life.
1b. Medical textbooks and scientific reference
works consistently agree that human life begins
at conception.
1c. Some of the world's most prominent scientists
and physicians testified to a U.S. Senate
committee that human life begins at conception.
1d. Many other prominent scientists and
physicians have likewise affirmed with certainty
that human life begins at conception.
1e. The possibility of human cloning does nothing
to discredit the fact that all humans conceived
in the conventional manner began their lives at
conception.
2. "The fetus is just a part of the
pregnant woman's body, like her tonsils or appendix.
You can't seriously believe a frozen embryo is an
actual person. "
2a. A body part is defined by the
common genetic code it shares with the rest of
its body; the unbom's genetic code differs from
his mother's.
2b. The child may die and the mother live, or the
mother may die and the child live, proving they
are two separate individuals.
2c. The unborn child takes an active role in his
own development, controlling the course of the
pregnancy and the time of birth.
2d. Being inside something is not the same as
being part of something.
2e. Human beings should not be discriminated
against because of their place of residence.
2f. There is substantial scientific reason to
believe that frozen embryos are persons and
should be granted the same rights as older,
larger, and less vulnerable persons.
3. "The unborn is an embryo or a
fetus—just a simple blob of tissue, a product of
conception—not a baby. Abortion is terminating a
pregnancy, not killing a child. "
3a. Like toddler and adolescent, the
terms embryo and fetus do not refer to nonhumans,
but to humans at particular stages of development.
3b. Semantics affect perceptions, but they do not
change realities; a baby is a baby no matter what
we call her.
3c. From the moment of conception the unborn is
not simple, but very complex.
3d. Prior to the earliest first trimester
abortions, the unborn already has every body part
she will ever have.
3e. Every abortion stops a beating heart and
terminates measurable brain waves.
3f. Even in the earliest abortions, the unborn
child is clearly human in appearance.
3g. Even before the unborn is obviously human in
appearance, she is what she is—a human being.
3h. No matter how much better it sounds, "terminating
a pregnancy" is still terminating a life.
4. "The fetus may be alive, but so
are eggs and sperm. The fetus is a potential human
being, not an actual one; it's like a blueprint not a
house, an acorn not an oak tree."
4a. The ovum and sperm are each a
product of another's body; unlike the fertilized
egg, neither is an independent entity.
4b. The physical remains after an abortion
indicate the end not of a potential life but of
an actual life.
4c. Something nonhuman does not become human by
getting older and bigger; whatever is human must
be human from the beginning.
4d. Comparing preborns and adults to acorns and
oaks is dehumanizing and misleading.
4e. Even if the analogy were valid,
scientifically speaking an acorn is simply a
little oak tree, just as an embryo is a little
person.
5. "The unborn isn't a person, with
meaningful life. It's only inches in size, and can't
even think; it's less advanced than an animal, and
anyway, who says people have a greater right to live
than animals?"
5a. Personhood is properly defined
by membership in the human species, not by stage
of development within that species.
5b. Personhood is not a matter of size, skill, or
degree of intelligence.
5c. The unborn's status should be determined on
an objective basis, not on subjective or self-serving
definitions of personhood.
5d. It is a scientific fact that there are
thought processes at work in unborn babies.
5e. If the unborn's value can be compared to that
of an animal, there is no reason not to also
compare the value of born people to animals.
5f. It is dangerous when people in power are free
to determine whether other, less powerful lives
are meaningful.
5g. It is dangerous when people in power are free
to determine whether other, less powerful lives
are meaningful.
5h. Arguments against the personhood of the
unborn are shrouded in rationalization and denial.
6. "A fetus isn't a person until
implantation...or until quickening or viability or
when it first breaths."
6a. Implantation is a gauge of
personhood only if location, nutrition, and
interfacing with others make us human.
6b. Quickening is a gauge of personhood only if
someone's reality or value depends upon being
noticed by another.
6c. Viability is an arbitrary concept. Why not
associate personhood with heartbeat, brain waves,
or something else?
6d. The point of viability changes because it
depends on technology, not the unborn herself.
Eventually babies may be viable from the point of
conception.
6e. In a broad sense, many born people are not
viable because they are incapable of surviving
without depending on others.
6f. A child's "breathing", her intake
of oxygen, begins long before birth.
6g. Someone's helplessness or dependency should
motivate us to protect her, not to destroy her.
7. "Obviously life begins at birth.
That's why we celebrate birthdays, not conception
days, and why we don't have funerals following
miscarriages."
7a. Our recognition of birthdays is
cultural, not scientific.
7b. Some people do have funerals after a
miscarriage.
7c. Funerals are an expression of our own
subjective attachment to those who have died, not
a measurement of their true worth.
7d. There is nothing about birth that makes a
baby essentially different than he was before
birth.
8. "No one can really know that
human life begins before birth."
8a. Children know that human life
begins before birth.
8b. Pregnant women know that human life begins
before birth.
8c. Doctors know that human life begins before
birth.
8d. Abortionists know that human life begins
before birth.
8e. Prochoice feminists know that human life
begins before birth.
8f. Society know that human life begins before
birth.
8g. The media know that human life begins before
birth.
8h. Prochoice advocates know that human life
begins before birth.
8i. If we can't know that human life begins
before birth, how can we know whether it begins
at birth or later?
9. "Even if the unborn are human
beings, they have fewer rights than the woman. No one
should be expected to donate her body as a life-support
system for someone else."
9a. Once we grant that the unborn
are human beings, it should settle the question
of their right to live.
9b. The right to live doesn't increase with age
and size, otherwise toddlers and adolescents have
less right to live than adults.
9c. The comparison between baby's rights and
mother's rights is unequal. What is at stake in
abortion is the mother's lifestyle, as opposed to
the baby's life.
9d. It is reasonable for society to expect an
adult to live temporarily with an inconvenience
if the only alternative is killing a child.
10. "Every person has the right to
choose. It would be unfair to restrict a woman's
choice by prohibiting abortion."
10a. Any civilized society restricts
the individual's freedom to choose whenever that
choice would harm an innocent person.
10b. "Freedom to choose" is too vague
for meaningful discussion—we must always
ask, "Freedom to choose what?"
10c. People who are prochoice about abortion are
often not prochoice about other issues with less
at stake.
10d. The one-time choice of abortion robs someone
else of a lifetime of choices and prevents him
from ever exercising his rights.
10e. Everyone is prochoice when it comes to the
choices prior to pregnancy and after birth.
10f. Nearly all violations of human rights have
been defended on the grounds of the right to
choose.
11. "Every woman should have
control over her own body. Reproductive freedom is a
basic right."
11a. Abortion assures that 750,000
females each year do not have control over their
bodies.
11b. Not all things done with a person's body are
right, nor should they all be legally protected.
11c. Prolifers consistently affirm true
reproductive rights.
11d. Even prochoicers must acknowledge that the
"right to control one's body" argument
has no validity if the unborn is a human being.
11e. Too often "the right to control my life"
becomes the right to hurt and oppress others for
my own advantage.
11f. Control over the body can be exercised to
prevent pregnancy in the first place.
11g. It is demeaning to a woman's body and self-esteem
to regard pregnancy as an unnatural, negative,
and "out of control condition".
12. "Abortion is a decision between
a woman and her doctor. It's no one else's business.
Everyone has a constitutional right to privacy."
12a. The Constitution does not
contain a right to privacy.
12b. Privacy is never an absolute right, but is
always governed by other rights.
12c. The encouragement or assistance of a doctor
does not change the nature, consequences, or
morality of abortion.
12d. The father of the child is also responsible
for the child and should have a part in this
decision.
12e. The father will often face serious grief and
guilt as a result of abortion. Since his life
will be significantly affected, shouldn't he have
something to say about it?
13. "It's unfair for an unmarried
woman to have to face the embarrassment of pregnancy
or the pain of giving up a child for adoption."
13a. Pregnancy is not a sin. Society
should not condemn and pressure an unmarried
mother into abortion, but should help and support
her.
13b. The poor choice of premarital sex is never
compensated for by the far worse choice of
killing an innocent human being.
13c. One person's unfair or embarrassing
circumstances do not justify violating the rights
of another person.
13d. Adoption is a fine alternative that avoids
the burden of childraising, while saving a life
and making a family happy.
13e. The reason that adoption may be painful is
the same reason that abortion is wrong—a
human life is involved.
14. "Abortion-rights are
fundamental for the advancement of women. They are
essential to having equal rights with men."
14a. Early feminists were prolife,
not prochoice.
14b. Some active feminists still vigorously
oppose abortion.
14c. Women's rights are not inherently linked to
the right to abortion.
14d. The basic premises of the abortion-rights
movement are demeaning to women.
14e. Many of the assumptions that connect women's
welfare with abortion, the pill, and free sex
have proven faulty.
14f. Some of the abortion-rights strategies
assume female incompetence and subject women to
ignorance and exploitation.
14g. Abortion has become the most effective means
of sexism ever devised, ridding the world of
multitudes of unwanted females.
15. "The circumstances of many
women leave them no choice but to have an abortion."
15a. Saying they have no choice is
not being prochoice, but proabortion.
15b. Those who are truly prochoice must present a
woman with a number of possible choices, rather
than just selling the choice of abortion.
15c. "Abortion or misery" is a false
portrayal of the options; it keeps women from
pursuing—and society from providing—positive
alternatives.
Purchase
the book from Eternal Perspective Ministries
Look for order form link near bottom
of page
By Randy
Alcorn
© 2000 Eternal Perspective Ministries
Excerpts from Contents pages
Used by permission
