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Abortion: Life? Choice? Right?
Secular Arguments Against Abortion
Richard Deem
Evidence for God
(www.GodAndScience.org)
Secular Arguments Against
Abortion?
• Rich Deem – the agnostic
• Libertarians for Life (L4L.org) –
atheists
• A Secular Case Against Abortion by
Jennifer Roth – secular humanist
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/
debates/secularist/abortion/roth1.html)
• Feminists for Life (feministsforlife.org)
– non-sectarian
Why Should We Try to
Persuade?
1999 Gallup Poll on Abortion
Undecided
• Opinion nearly split (10%)
Prolife Prochoice
• Only ~50% feel (48%)
strongly either way (42%)
• Nearly half have no
strong opinion (i.e.,
Strongly
can be persuaded) Prochoice
No strong (26%)
opinion
(45%) Strongly Prolife
(29%)
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”
Medical Embryology
Textbooks
The Developing Human: Clinically
Oriented Embryology
"Zygote: this cell results from the
union of an oocyte and a sperm. A
zygote is the beginning of a new
human being (i.e., an embryo).
Human development begins at
fertilization… This highly specialized,
totipotent cell marks the beginning of
each of us as a unique individual.”
Medical Embryology
Textbooks
Essentials of Human Embryology
“In this text, we begin our description
of the developing human with the
formation and differentiation of the
male and female sex cells or gametes,
which will unite at fertilization to
initiate the embryonic development of
a new individual.”
Medical Embryology
Textbooks
Human Embryology & Teratology
“Fertilization is an important landmark
because, under ordinary
circumstances, a new, genetically
distinct human organism is thereby
formed…”
What Do Medical Doctors Say?
Dr. Alfred Bongioanni (University of
Pennsylvania):
“I have learned from my earliest medical
education that human life begins at the time
of conception.”
Dr. Jerome LeJeune (University of
Descartes):
“after fertilization has taken place a new
human being has come into being.”
What Do Medical Doctors Say?
Dr. Hymie Gordon (Mayo Clinic):
“By all criteria of modern molecular biology,
life is present from the moment of
conception.”
Dr. Micheline Matthews-Roth (Harvard
University Medical School):
“It is scientifically correct to say that an
individual human life begins at conception”
Human Embryology 101
• Fetal heart begins
to form 18 days after
conception
• Measurable heart beat
21-24 days after
conception
• Fetal brain begins to
form on day 23
• Brain waves produced
by 6 weeks
Abortion Statistics by Weeks
of Gestation
Weeks of Gestation Abortions (% of total)
<6 22
7 18
8 18
>8 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)
Fetus – Just a “Blob of Tissue”?
“I opened the sock up and I put it on the
towel and there were parts in there of a
person. I‟d taken anatomy; I was a medical
student. I knew what I was looking at. There
was a little scapula and there was an arm,
and I saw some ribs and a chest, and I saw a
little tiny head, and I saw a piece of a leg,
and I saw a tiny hand. ... I checked it out and
there were two arms and two legs and one
head, etc., and I turned and said, I guess you
got it all ... It was pretty awful that first
time... it was like somebody put a hot poker
into me.” (Dr. David Brewer, in training)
Fetus – Just a “Blob of Tissue”?
“I watched as the contents of the woman‟s
womb came through a suctioning device
and into a stainless-steel pail sitting at his
feet. I stepped back and wiped the
perspiration from my brow. “This is kind of
gruesome,” I said…. The doctor said, “At
this point in a pregnancy, the products of
conception aren‟t much.” I stepped forward
and peered into the pail. This time I broke
out in a cold sweat. I backed up and leaned
against the wall, my eyes closed. Dear
Jesus! I thought. I just saw someone
murdered! And I just stood and watched!
(Nurse Don Haines, in training)
Fetus – Just a “Blob of Tissue”?
“I had a quick sonogram and then received a
shot of methrotrexate. After the shot, I came
home... I went to bed that evening around 9
p.m… I continued contracting and bleeding
most of the night. Around three in the morning,
I went to the bathroom. When I stood up, I
noticed that the pain and the pressure was not
from clots, but from passing the placenta. When
I looked in the commode, I saw laying in the
center of the placenta my baby. I saw the baby's
perfectly formed hands, the little fingers. I
remember the scream that came from my
mouth... [from a 7 week abortion] (Char, “I used
to be Pro-choice...But…”)
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”
Supreme Court Decision
• The Supreme Court held that the “right
to privacy,” assured the freedom of a
person to abort unless the state had a
“compelling interest” in preventing the
abortion.
• The Court then held that, though the
state had an interest in protecting fetal
life, this interest did not become
“compelling” until “fetal viability”
occurred in the third trimester of
pregnancy.
Legal Definition of Murder
CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE
SECTION 187-199
187.
a. Murder is the unlawful killing of a
human being, or a fetus, with malice
aforethought.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/187-199.html
Definition of Murder –
Exceptions
CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE 187.
b. This section shall not apply to any
person who commits an act that
results in the death of a fetus if any
of the following apply:
3. The act was solicited, aided, abetted,
or consented to by the mother of the
fetus.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cacodes/pen/187-199.html
Legal Personhood Issues
• The fetus is granted personhood if
wanted by the mother
• The fetus can become a non-person at
the discretion of the mother
• However, a mother may not choose to
kill her born child
• How can the personhood of a human
being be decided by another person?
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 mother‟s
life or health
• Abortion alleviates economic and
social problems
Abortion Must Remain Legal to
Prevent Abortion Deaths
Year Abortion-related Deaths
1940 1,470
1950 263
1965 201
“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
Abortion Must Remain Legal to
Prevent Abortion Deaths
Deaths From Abortion
Year Legal Abortions Legal Illegal
1972 ? 24 41
1973 615,831 25 21
1974 763,476 26 7
Tietze, C. 1983. Induced Abortion: A World
View. The Population Council, New York.
The “Hard” Cases
Abortion must be available for:
• cases of rape or incest
• Represent only 1% of all cases
• cases of fetal abnormalities
• Represent only 1% of all cases
• mother‟s health is at risk
• Represents only 3% of all cases
The Alan Guttmacher Institute
(http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html)
Abortion Alleviates Economic
and Social Problems
• Pregnancy subjugates women, interferes
with career and educational choices
• For most women, pregnancy does not
interfere with the ability to work or attend
school, except after birth
• Laws prevent employers from firing or
discriminating against pregnant women
• Women are not forced to keep their children.
Adoption is always an option
• The existence of social problems is not
justification for another evil
Every Child Should Be Wanted
• Being wanted is not a condition of the
child, but of the adult
• Is it fair to kill a child because of the
attitude of an adult?
• Wanted children are less likely to
suffer abuse (next slide)
Every Child Should Be Wanted
(Wanted Children Are Less Likely to Be Abused)
Reported Child
Year Abuse Cases
1973 167,000
1980 785,100
1987 2,025,200
2000 1,726,000
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National
Center of Child Abuse & Neglect; National Analysis of
Official Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting
Women Have a “Right” to
Control Their Own Body
• Is the fetus part their body?
• Separate circulatory system
• Unique DNA
• Do we have rights to do anything
with our bodies?
• Assault
• Illegal drugs
• Use of drugs/alcohol during pregnancy
Population Control – Rebuttal
• Those countries that outlaw abortion
have an overcrowding problem
• This does not indicated cause and
effect – these countries also have little
or no access to birth-control, poor
education, etc.
• War, disease and famine also curb
population growth. Should we condone
them?
Fetus Is Not a Person
“Persons . . . are members of a social
community that shapes and values them,
and personhood must be defined in
terms of interactions and relationships
with others.”
Susan Sherwin. 1999. Ethical Issues:
Perspectives for Canadians. Ed. Soifer,
Eldon. Peterborough, Ontario:
Broadview Press, p. 267
Fetus Is Not a Person –
Rebuttal
• Personality definition problems
• Does a human non-person exist?
• What traits define personhood?
• Who makes the definition?
• Society has excluded certain humans
from personhood before (e.g., African
slaves, Chinese, etc.) Should we make a
new list of human non-persons?
Fetus Is Not a Person –
Rebuttal
• The lack of certain personality traits
would remove from personhood:
• Those who are in a coma
• Elderly with degenerative disorders
(Alzheimer's, etc.)
• Mentally deficient
• Genetic
• Neurological disease
• Mental illness
• Is is okay to consider these human
beings as non-persons?
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
Implications of Functionally-
Defined Personhood
• Newborns lack the ability to perform
personal functions – in fact, newborn
humans are less capable physically
and mentally than virtually all other
mammals
• Therefore, on the basis of functionally-
defined personhood, newborns fail the
test could be killed on the basis of
“non-personhood”
When Does a Human Become
a Person?
• At conception
• After 20 weeks‟ gestation
• After 24 weeks (fetal viability
outside the womb)
• At birth
• At the point that the individual
expresses self-consciousness and
an interest in their continued
existence
At Conception, It Is Only a
Single Cell
Claim:
• Fertilized eggs are single cells, like
blood cells or other parts of the
body
Rebuttal:
• The single cell is unique from both
the father‟s and mother‟s cells and
is the beginning of every new
human being
Claim: Prior to 20 Weeks, a
Fetus Is Not a Person
• A person possess an individual
human personality
• Prior to 20 weeks‟ gestation, the
cerebral cortex has not yet
developed to the point that the
fetus can possess an individual
human personality
• The fetus prior to 20 weeks‟
gestation is not a person.
Prior to 20 Weeks, a Fetus Is
Not a Person – Rebuttal
Person = Personality Problem
• All persons were once fetuses. When
did we go from non-person status to
person status?
• To say that personality defines
personhood is to deny the role of the
body
• Mind/Body dualism?
Prior to 20 Weeks, a Fetus Is
Not a Person – Rebuttal
Brain Development Problem
The development of the brain is
programmed by the DNA – it is an
inherent function of the fertilized ovum
and continues even after birth
Prior to 24 Weeks, a Fetus Is
Not Viable – Rebuttal
• Depends upon current technology
• Age of viability used to be 28 weeks
• Changed to 24 weeks in 1990
• Artificial womb (Nature, 2002)
• Developed for premature infants
• Uses oxygenated perfluorinated
hydrocarbons
• Could cut the point of fetal viability in
half?
Personhood Starts at the Point
of Self-consciousness
• „In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide,‟
Michael Tooley claims that individuals have
a right to life only at the point of self-
consciousness and an interest in their own
continued existence
• Tooley concludes, therefore, that infanticide
is morally acceptable
• If the individual will, in the future develop
such interest, is it permissible to kill the
individual before such interests develop?
Can fetuses be excluded from allowing such
development to occur?
Morality and Abortion
• Often quoted, “safe, legal, and rare” –
Why rare?
• Abortion rate “too high”
• ~30% of pregnancies in the U.S.
• ~70% of pregnancies in Russia
• If abortion is good, wouldn‟t higher be
better?
Do You Personally Believe
That Abortion Is Wrong?
Even though 51% claimed
to be “pro-choice” only Don‟t Know
36% believe that abortion (8%)
was not morally wrong No Yes
(36%) (56%)
Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton
Survey Research Associates. October 29-
30, 1998
I Am Personally Against
Abortion, But…
• Why are you personally against
abortion?
• If you believe it is immoral, why do you
think it should be legally allowed?
• I am personally against murder, but…
• I am personally against robbery, but…
Abortion Vs. Slavery
Abortion (2003) Slavery (1850‟s)*
“They‟re not “They‟re not persons,
persons” but property”
It‟s a personal choice It‟s a personal choice
It‟s a religious issue It‟s a religious issue
*Stephen Douglas used all of these arguments in
favor of retaining slavery
Abortion: Life? Choice? Right?
Available Online at
Evidence for God
(www.GodAndScience.org)
