Pregnancy is not slavery |
MYTH: "Nobody has a right to use someone else’s body without
their consent; therefore a woman should not be forced to be pregnant against
her will."
TRUTH: This is wrong on a number of different levels.
First, this attempt to equate an unborn baby with an attacker
or trespasser is a false analogy because:
1)
Unborn babies are fundamentally unlike a
trespasser or rapist: they are exactly where nature designed them to be, in
their mothers’ wombs. Criminal
assailants are criminals precisely because they are where they are not
supposed to be.
2)
The unborn child in her womb has been created through the natural functioning of the mother’s own body, and has received half of her
genetic material directly from the mother.
An unwelcome assailant is completely separate, and has no intrinsic
connection to the woman’s body.
3)
Unborn humans are incapable of asking “consent”:
it is absurd to hold them to a standard that applies to adults only. Even if
there is a violation, we are executing an innocent party.
4)
Do we permit killing 2 year-olds, or 10
year-olds, for instance, for “using someone else’s body without their consent”? Children continue to “use” their parents’
bodies for years after birth, depending upon them for shelter, food, education,
and a host of other things. A woman who kills a newborn baby, or a 2 year-old,
or a 10 year old will still be held liable, regardless of whether or not she
“consented” to have them. Parents’
obligation to protect and nurture their children is based on their biological
relationship, not the parents’ attitude.
Randy Alcorn, in Pro Life Answers to Pro Choice Arguments also makes the following points in response to similar arguments:
1)
The vast majority of pregnancies result from
consensual sexual intercourse, and pregnancy is the natural consequence (in
fact, the biological purpose) of the sexual act. Also, there is no contraceptive method that
is 100% effective. Over 90% of
pregnancies are the result of a free choice on the part of the mother.
2)
Pregnancy is a temporary condition , and since
“the great majority of abortions take place from seven weeks to six months of
development, the actual difference between the woman who aborts her child and
the woman who doesn’t is not nine months
but three to seven months.” Is a few months inconvenience too much to
ask in return for the life of an innocent child?
3)
“Any civilized society restricts the
individual’s freedom to choose whenever that choice would harm an innocent
person.”
4)
“The one-time choice of abortion robs someone
else of a lifetime of choices and prevents him from ever exercising” his or her
rights.
Essential Pro-Life Resources:
Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments (link)
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