There are prochoice people who take seriously the moral weight of killing a human fetus and nonetheless side with the right of the mother to do so. And then there are prochoice people who dehumanize and objectify the human fetus, recasting him/her as a “parasite”. This is the same rhetoric used to eradicate populations in […]
abortion
Babies Aren’t Tapeworms and Real Feminists Don’t Revile Fetuses
Is abortion a genocide?
Dear fellow Pro-Lifers, Please do not refer to support for elective abortion as a “genocide”. The word “genocide” has a specific meaning in international law: it refers to the attempt to destroy an ethnic, religious, or cultural identity. To be sure, genocidaires may use abortion as a means to destroy an ethnic, religious and/or cultural […]
On Anti-Abortion Extremists (and other unhelpful rhetoric)
CNN just posted an article titled “Before judging ‘late-term abortion,’ understand what it means, doctors say.” I agree with the sentiment. There is way too much heat and not enough light in this complex and highly emotional debate. That said, I cannot help but reply to the comment of one of the two doctors interviewed […]
Abortion: We may never agree, but can we at least concede the other side has a point?
For decades, abortion has remained among the most volatile ethical and public policy debates in western society. This polarization is rooted in large part in the complexity of the issue itself, but it is also spurred on by uncompromising rhetoric on both sides. Thus, for example, prolifers disparage the prochoice position as “baby murder” while the prochoicers respond by invoking […]
Elective abortion as the right to kill your children
There are few political and social issues as controverted and fraught with mutual animus as the debate over abortion rights. Unfortunately, the heat is only multiplied by the common retreat to unfortunate and misleading rhetoric. Consider, for example, the practice among some prolifers of referring to abortion as a genocide. This is language that I’ve […]
The Fight over the Fetus: Abortion, Ethics, and Politics
Today Norman Geisler apparently defended his continued support for Donald Trump by claiming that Hillary Clinton is worse than Adolf Hitler. The reason? Her support for abortion. I first learned about this from Hemant Mehta’s blog and so I’m going to quote the relevant passage from his article “Christian Theologian: I Still Support Donald Trump Because […]
Fetus as Parasite? A disturbing trend in pro-choice rhetoric
Throughout history attempts to justify killing members of outgroups has been carried out by invoking labels for members of the outgroups. David Livingstone Smith chronicles this lamentable aspect of human history in his book Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2012). And so, for example, the Nazis called Jews and […]
On the Prolife rationale behind showing aborted fetuses
Jeff Lowder just posted three tweets questioning the logic behind Prolifers showing aborted fetuses. Here are the tweets: Now first off, I have my own concerns about the way the Prolife cause has often employed depictions of aborted fetuses for the sake of their cause. So my point here is not to defend the practice. Nor […]
Should a Christian support a pro-choice candidate? Should a Christian support a pro-torture candidate?
Occasionally I encounter Christian conservatives who insist that a Christian should not support a pro-choice political candidate. As a pro-life Christian, I agree with those Christian conservatives that Christians ought to be pro-life. But I don’t agree that a politician’s position on abortion can serve as a litmus test for a Christian’s support or opposition. In Canada’s most recent national […]
Abortion to save the life of the mother
I’ve been a supporter of Amnesty International for several years now. As a result, I receive on a regular basis emails regarding current matters. Yesterday I received the following appeal via email: Today El Salvador’s Supreme Court continues to debate a young mother’s request for a life-saving abortion. However, the President, Attorney General and other […]
Could the punishment for legalized abortion be a national abortion?
In my article “William Lane Craig’s defense of genocide based on a reprobate culture” I pointed out that the “reprobate culture” rationale provided for slaughtering all the Canaanites could apply equally well to the United States based on the argument provided by Clay Jones. Bilbo replied by suggesting that one could plausibly argue for the […]
Does God only care about abortion and homosexuality?
I originally posted this article 1 1/2 years ago at Christian Post. You might be asking this question if you listened to many evangelicals who still seem to trundle out these two issues as the single matters of ethical concern. Of course, on a good day some will venture out a bit further and expand […]
Why Being Prolife Ain’t Easy
I continue to raid my vault of old CP articles so you can become acquainted with some rare gems. Well okay, that’s not exactly the reason. It is more like I need to get the copy-editing done on a book and to complete another book proposal for my agent by early next week, so in […]
