8 Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Abortion Arguments

Abortion is not a modern-day phenomenon. Surviving texts from ancient Greco-Roman history, reveal that people were familiar with the practice of abortion way back then. Some viewed it as necessary for preventing unwanted kids, reducing the number of heirs and “weaker” kids. It was also used to hide sexual activity, prevent bodily disfigurement, and avoid the financial inconvenience of childbirth. Abortions were induced by abortion-type drugs or brutal surgery. Occasionally, however, this act was condemned based on the philosophy that what grows in the womb is a human being.

In recent history, the Soviet Union, under Vladimir Lenin, was recognized as the first country in the modern age to legalize induced abortions. The Chinese government was known to use involuntary abortions in an effort to reduce their nation’s population. They did this in the 20th century and brutally forced their people to accept the practice.

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled (Roe v. Wade) that the Constitution of the United States protects a woman’s right to privacy and her choice to have an abortion. The Roe v. Wade ruling was originally intended to place restrictions on first-trimester abortions. But as the years have gone by, the original intention has distorted; it has caused leeway in the termination of life at any stage of pregnancy, and in some cases, even after birth.

Abortion Statistics in the States:

• There have been 63 million legal abortions since 1973, which equals 19% of our country’s current population.
• In 2019, unmarried women accounted for 86% of all abortions (CDC).
• Among married women, 4% of pregnancies in 2019 ended in abortion (CDC).
• In 2014, 30% of aborting women identified themselves as Protestant and 24% as Catholic (AGI).
• Among white women, 10% of 2019 pregnancies ended in abortion (CDC). Among black women, 28% ended in abortion (CDC)
• The abortion rate of women with Medicaid coverage is 3 times as high as that of other women not on Medicaid (NAF).
• Between 1973-2018, a reported 521 women died due to complications from legal abortions (CDC).
• In 2014, the average cost of medical abortion up to 9 weeks of gestation was $535 (AGI).
• 17 states use public funds to pay for abortions for poor women. About 14% of all abortions in the USA are paid for with public funds (AGI). In 2014, public funds paid for 88,466 abortions in California. And in New York, 45,722 abortions were paid for by public funds (AGI).
• 40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI). But 39 states currently enforce parental consent for minors seeking an abortion (AGI).

In the United States, oceans, lakes, trees, fish, and even our pets enjoy more legal protection than unborn babies. In our day and age, it’s safer to be a pet than an unborn child in the womb. Many who scream “pro-choice” are also advocates for limitations on free speech, the choice for vaccinations, and the reduction of parental influence in our public schools. American “pro-choice” promoters are rarely seen actually advocating all the ideals of individual freedoms and liberties established in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In practice, they push for a “pro-abortion” doctrine so radical that it includes late-term abortions and the refusal of open debates that could create limitations.

In this blog, I will look at the 8 main arguments for pro-abortion (there are more of course), and then provide answers from the pro-life perspective. We will also look at one exception in which abortion is morally justifiable.

8 Common Arguments

1. Pro-Abortion: Life Begins with Breathing! 
Pro-Life: Life Begins at Conception!

The argument used by pro-abortion advocates is that the baby is not a human until it begins to breathe. In God’s design, however, the baby doesn’t need to breathe while in the womb because it receives oxygenated blood necessary for life through the umbilical cord.

Pro-Life supporters believe that human life begins at the time of conception. At the moment fertilization takes place, the child’s genetic makeup or DNA is completely established. Its gender has already been determined, along with its height and hair, eye, and skin color. The only thing the embryo requires to become a fully-functioning human is 9 months in the protective environment of the uterus to grow and develop.

Think about it: at the 5th week after conception, our cerebral cortex begins to form. In the 6th week, our heart chambers converge. In the 7th week, our fingers and toes have become visibly distinct. And, in the 10th week, we become sensitive to touch. The unborn baby can feel real and excruciating physical pain.

Let that sink in.

Abortion is dreadfully painful to the unborn child, and death is the result.

The only difference between an unborn child and a newly born child is their location, size, level of dependence on the mother, and their stage of development.

Babies outside of the womb are small, very dependent on the mother, and are still growing, although they do so at a slower rate. They are no more valuable than they were while growing in the womb–tiny and dependent on the mother, attached only by the umbilical cord.

While calling an unborn child a clump of cells is technically accurate, it’s inadequate because this description can also apply to every adult human being. All of us are made up of billions of cells.

In the book Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology (9th Edition), doctors Moore, Persaud, and Torchia write the following: “There are different opinions of when an embryo becomes a human being because opinions are often affected by religious and personal views. The scientific answer is that the embryo is a human being from the time of fertilization because of its human chromosomal constitution. The zygote is the beginning of a developing human.”^[1] and“Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male sperm unites with a female ovum to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”^[2]

Chuck Swindoll in his Sanctity of Life book says, “Medical authorities determine a person to be “alive” if there is either a detectable heartbeat or brain-wave activity. With that in mind, it is eye-opening for some to realize that unborn children have detectable heartbeats at eighteen days (2 1/2 weeks) after conception and detectable brain-wave activity forty days (a little over 5 1/2 weeks) after conception.”

Another pro-life argument states that if an unborn child is just a mass of cells and not a person, then why is it that when a pregnant woman is murdered, in 38 states the incident could be considered a double homicide?^[3]

A new human being comes into existence during the process of fertilization.

It is false to claim that no one knows when life begins and it’s a distortion of the truth to argue that abortion does not kill a human being.

Uncertainty regarding life’s beginning has long been used as an argument in favor of legal abortion. In reality, if there is any doubt or uncertainty, then abortion ceases to be a justifiable option. For abortion to be justified, you have to be absolutely certain that you’re not killing a human being.

2. Pro-Abortion: My Body, My Choice!
Pro-Life: A Fetus is Not an Organ of a Woman’s Body. It’s an Actual Person.

When the argument of “my body, my choice” is applied to the topic of abortion, it fails to acknowledge that another human is also affected by that woman’s choice to abort. Contrary to the belief held by Pro-Abortion supporters, the fetus is not part of a pregnant woman’s body like an appendix; it’s an actual person.

The DNA code of the fetus completely defines all of its body parts; the unborn’s genetic code is entirely different from its mother’s. The fetus is an individual attached to its mother only at the placenta.

Being inside something is not the same as being a part of something.

Any civilized society restricts an individual’s “freedom of choice” when that freedom causes harm to an innocent person. Therefore, it’s impossible to justify abortion by simply arguing that women should be “free to choose.” People don’t have the right to kill an unexpected and harmless visitor in their house, and women shouldn’t have the right to kill an unwanted person in their body. The unborn baby is a visitor in its mother’s womb and merits her kind hospitality, however unexpected they may be.

The practice of abortion comes down to the choice between a mother’s life and her personal convenience and lifestyle. The defenders of the “right of choice” believe that they can make whatever choice they want and their choice is right just because they made it.

People defend abortion by claiming that they have a right to privacy. They claim that abortions are a personal matter between them and their physician and that others should stay out. Of course, if abortion kills an innocent human being (and it does), then it would be more obvious that killing done in private would be more acceptable than killing done in public.

The encouragement or assistance of a doctor does not change the morality or the consequence of abortion.

The mother’s choice concerning her physical body should have been exercised to prevent the pregnancy in the first place. The single choice to commit an abortion robs a baby of a lifetime in which they can never exercise their own personal rights. Nearly all civil violations of human rights have been prosecuted or defended on the grounds of one’s right to choose–to do right or to do wrong.

The right to not be killed supersedes the right to not get pregnant.

Some people believe that prohibiting abortion makes the rights of fetuses more valuable than those of grown women. That’s not true. Abortion is wrong because the right to not be murdered is more fundamental than the right to not get pregnant.

3. Pro-Abortion: It’s Better to Abort Unwanted Children to Prevent Their Future Misery!
Pro-Life: Poverty or a Disability Don’t Justify Killing Someone After Their Birth.

Every child is wanted or desired by someone; there is no such thing as an unwanted child. There is a difference between an unwanted pregnancy and an unwanted child. “Unwanted” describes the attitude of the adults, not the condition of a child. What is even more unjust or unfair for “unwanted” children is to kill them.

It is illogical to argue that a child is protected from potential abuse through abortion since abortion is indeed the worst degree of child abuse. Planned Parenthood’s pro-abortion advocacy was rooted in the “eugenics movement” with bias against minorities and the mentally and physically handicapped. Yes, I agree that we should strive to alleviate suffering and discrimination in this world, but taking action to remove unborn babies who might suffer is removing the sufferer, not the suffering.

Handicapped children are precious. They are often happy and usually delighted to be alive. Special needs children are not social liabilities in the same way that many bright and “normal” people are not always social assets.

Would poverty, physical disability, or rejection justify the killing of a human being after they are born? The answer is a definitive NO! Neither should they justify the killing of human beings before their birth, turning the aborted child into nothing more than a discarded throwaway. 

4. Pro-Abortion: Abortion Is Okay In Case of Rape or Incest!
Pro-Life: The Guilty Party Should Be Punished, Not the Innocent Unborn Child.

Pregnancy due to rape is rare; in fact, less than 1 percent of all abortions are due to rape or incest^[4]. This sexual crime is never the fault of the unborn child; killing the child creates two victims, instead of one. Aborting the child does not and will not bring healing to a rape victim. The child is innocent and a person, regardless of the circumstances of their conception!

Would you consider abortion in any of the following 4 situations?

• There’s a preacher and his wife who are very, very, poor. They already have 14 kids. Now she finds out she’s pregnant with number 15. They’re living in tremendous poverty. Considering their extreme financial lack and the size of the family, would you consider recommending she get an abortion?

  — You would have just killed John Wesley, one of the great evangelists of the 19th century.

• The father is sick with sniffles, the mother has TB. They have four children. The first is blind, the second is dead, the third is deaf, and the fourth has TB. She finds she’s pregnant again. Given these extreme situations, would you consider recommending abortion?
  — You would have killed Beethoven
• A white man raped a thirteen-year-old black girl and she got pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?
  –– You would have just promoted the murder of Ethel Waters, a great black gospel singer.
• A teenage girl is pregnant. She’s not married. Her fiancé is not the father of the baby, and he’s very upset. Would you consider recommending abortion?
  — You would have just promoted the murder of Jesus Christ!!

5. Pro-Abortion: I Am Pro-Life Personally But Pro-Choice Politically.
Pro-Life: It’s like saying I am against slavery personally but pro-slavery politically.

Abortion is reproachable for the same reasons as slavery and the Holocaust were.

This is the stance of so many:

• I’m personally against abortion, but I don’t think it should be illegal.
• Women should have the right to choose, though I would never have an abortion myself.
• Abortion is wrong, but the government should not legislate morality.
• We should not force our religious beliefs on other people.

If that’s the case, think about it this way:

• I’m personally against murdering children, but I don’t think it should be illegal.
• Women should have the right to choose to kill their children, though I could never kill my own.
• Killing children is wrong, but the government should not legislate morality.
• We should not force our religious beliefs on those who want to kill infants.

Abortion is not the same as swearing, drunkenness, lying, or slander. Abortion is not like other spiritual offenses such as sexual immorality or habitual substance abuse. Nor is it comparable to harming others through deception, fraud, or theft. Abortion means killing the unborn and murdering innocent human beings.

If abortion does not kill a living child, why would anyone be opposed to it?

But if it does kill children, why would anyone defend another’s right to do it?

Being personally against abortion but favoring another’s right to abort is contradictory and morally unjustifiable.

6. Pro-Abortion: Abortion is Legal, Therefore it Must be Right.
Pro-Life: Making Something Legal Doesn’t Mean It’s Right!

Slavery in the USA was legal but it was never right. Segregation was legal at one time but it wasn’t right. Forced sterilization in China was legal but unjust. And in Nazi Germany, the Jewish Holocaust was legal but that didn’t make it right.

Just because something is legal doesn’t always make it moral or ethical.

Abortion is reprehensible for the same reasons that slavery and the Holocaust were. Around the globe, a network of killing centers are eliminating “unwanted” human beings at a staggering rate—relying on the same inexcusable arguments that were once used to justify the Jewish Holocaust.

7. Pro-Abortion: Abortions Are Safe.
Pro-Life: Abortion is Intended to Harm. There is Nothing Safe About That.

All methods of abortion violate the most basic medical tenet, the Hippocratic Oath: “do no harm”. Some surgeries carry a risk of harm, but the literal intention of an abortion is to inflict harm. Two people walk into a clinic, and only one walks out alive. That’s not safe!

• A 2014 study by WHO estimates that between 2003-2009, approximately 7.9% of all maternal deaths worldwide were caused by abortion, that’s an average of 27,571 maternal deaths per year.
• The Bill Gates foundation in a 2014 study found that 14.9% of all 20,143 maternal deaths were caused by abortions. More than half of these occurred in Africa.

Significant risk factors have been associated with abortions. And the morality of this issue is not directly tied to the risks it poses to the mother. As we know, giving birth normally certainly carries its own set of risk factors. So why then shouldn’t a woman considering abortion know about the potential damage it could do to her own body? Things like uterine cancer and damage to the uterus can complicate a future pregnancy and may even cause death.

Abortion often leaves women with a lifetime of mental anguish. The psychological implications of abortion are just as much disputed as the actual abortion itself. Whether or not Post-Abortion Syndrome is a real or an imagined condition, there is no denying the fact that abortion has left countless women with feelings of profound regret and guilt. The Elliot Institute study showed that 80% of women who aborted their baby regretted their choice; 43% felt pressured by family members or a medical team to have an abortion.

8. Pro-Abortion: Abortions Empowers Women.
Pro-Life: Abortion Disproportionately Eliminates The Minorities.

Around the globe, abortions are shrinking the female population at an alarming rate. No matter what you believe about the ethics of abortion, there is no denying the fact that abortion has become a means of eliminating females around the world. Male offspring are more useful for the economic survival of families in underprivileged countries. Current estimates put the global gender gap somewhere between 100 and 200 million people.

Abortion is disproportionately eliminating minority babies. In the United States, black children are aborted at more than three times the rate of white children; Hispanic children are aborted at one and a half times that rate. Whatever the intentions of Planned Parenthood are, abortion is eliminating a disproportionate number of children in the minority.

The Only Time Abortion is Morally Justifiable is to Save The Life of the Mother.

It is necessary to recognize that with an ectopic pregnancy, the act of removing an unborn child that is developing outside the uterus is only done with the intention of saving the life of the mother. This surgical procedure is not performed with the intention of taking the child’s life, which should be preserved if at all possible with medical technology.

In such rare and heartbreaking cases, the choice would be between the loss of one life (the baby’s) or the loss of two lives (both the baby’s and the mother’s). This is one of the extreme situations in which abortion would be morally justified. Eclampsia and preeclampsia are other extreme conditions that could endanger the mother’s life.

But, such situations are extremely rare. Dr. Landrum Shettles, a pioneer in the field of in-vitro fertilization, wrote: “Less than 1 percent of all abortions are performed to save the mother’s life”. But in 2019, medical authorities representing more than 30,000 doctors said “intentionally killing a late-term unborn baby by abortion is never imperative to save a mother’s life”

Final Thoughts:

• Based on the 2008 abortion rates, nearly one in three women will have had an abortion in the United States by the age of 45.
• Each day in the USA on average, more than 2,400 human beings are killed by abortion.
• Most of the victims weigh less than one ounce. Virtually all of them have a beating heart.  60 percent are surgically dismembered by suction and 40 percent die from medically-induced exposures to strong saline solutions.
• In the name of “choice”, abortion kills the smallest and the weakest members of our society. Abortion is an act of violence that kills an innocent human being and whoever says differently is “selling” something else.

If you’ve had an abortion, it is a forgivable sin!

If you are reading this and it was you who took somebody’s advice and had an abortion, remember that all sins and all sinners are forgiven through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. Trust in Jesus as your Savior. Ask for His forgiveness and receive Him into your heart.

Forgiven sinners will walk in love and live a righteous life together with Jesus. He will wash, sanctify, and justify you through the power of the Holy Spirit. Guilt and condemnation are erased and your conscience is cleared.

May God heal you and bless you.

But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:7

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Recommended Resource:

Book by Randy Alcorn – ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments

Website: https://abort73.com Bringing An End to Abortion

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Citations:
[1] Keith Moore, T.V. N. Persuad, and Mark Torchia, Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology, 9th Edition (Philadelphia: Saunders, 2015), 339

[2] Keith Moore, T.V. N. Persuad, and Mark Torchia, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, 10th, Edition, (Philadelphia: Saunders, 2015), 7

[3] Erik Skinner, Alise Garcia. “State Laws on Fetal Homicide and Penalty-Enhancement for Crimes Against Pregnant Women.” State Laws on Fetal Homicide and Penalty-Enhancement for Crimes against Pregnant Women, www.ncsl.org/research/health/fetal-homicide-state-laws.aspx.

[4] Lewin, Tamar. “Rape and Incest: Just 1% of All Abortions.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Oct. 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/10/13/us/rape-and-incest-just-1-of-all-abortions.html.

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