Heart of the Abortion Debate

More than 150 years ago, a Boston physician named Horatio Storer pointed to the heart of the abortion debate. “The whole question,” he observed, “turns on … the real nature of the fetus in utero.” Is the unborn a human being? If so, how should we treat him or her?

The prolife answer, in brief, runs as follows. From conception, the unborn is a distinct, living, and whole (though immature) human organism. We know this from the science of embryology. Morally, no relevant difference exists between human beings before and after birth. Unborn humans differ from older humans in size, level of development, location, and degree of dependency, but none of those differences are significant in a way that would justify killing the former. It follows that all human beings, including the unborn, are equal in having basic dignity and a right not to be unjustly killed. So elective abortion is wrong.

For every argument or reason given in defense of abortion, always go back to the heart of the question: Would this rationale work to justify killing obvious examples of rights-bearing persons, like newborn babies, toddlers, teenagers, and adults? If not, then the prochoice advocate is assuming that the unborn is not a valuable person like you and me—that is, he is assuming the very conclusion he should be defending. This is a logical fallacy called begging the question.

Isaiah Ceasar B. Bie,[email protected]