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Thursday, March 24, 2005
Abortion
What is your stand on abortion? I know what mine is.
Definition war: Don’t argue about the definition of life, or when does life really start. Taking that road will only lead you into a never ending argument. Don’t go technical and miss the point. Getting into the technical trap is one of the best ways to get confused, miss the point, and lose the case.
Point 1: Sanctity of life.
Scientific definitions will only serve to be technical. Philosophical definitions are esoteric in nature. Whichever way you want to define “life”, the act of stopping the birth of an unborn living being is equivalent to desecrating the sanctity of life. I’m not talking about stopping the act that starts the existence of an unborn living being. To do that, I’ll have to stop the act of sex. But sex is not the issue here. I’m talking about the act of stopping the development of a fertilized ovum that will, in its natural course, lead to the existence of a living being.
Point 2: The teleological argument.
In a circumstance that involves cause and effect, the circumstance must be viewed along with the acknowledgement of the will of a sovereign God. If the baby was not meant to be born, the process of its conception could’ve been stopped in many ways.
Just to illustrate a point:
1. The couple is separated by time and space, so conception is impossible.
2. The couple is not separated by time, but they are separated by space, so conception is not possible.
3. The couple is not separated by time nor space, but the couple did not consent to sex. So conception is not possible.
4. The couple consented to sex, but did not consent to unprotected sex, so conception is not possible.
5. The couple consented to unprotected sex, but it occurred during the wrong timing of the woman’s menstrual cycle.
6. The couple consented to unprotected sex, but there’s something wrong with the man’s fertility.
7. Or maybe the couple is so plain stupid, they just can’t get it right.
There could’ve been many other ways where conception could not have happened. But when the cause has happened, the effect cannot be treated as though it never happened. The effect must have a reason for being.
Point 3: The ethical argument.
There are 2 views in the ethical argument.
The pro-science view: Science and ethical issues are two separate issues. Ethical issues arise only when science is applied into technology.
The pro-ethics view: Science and ethical issues cannot be separated. Scientists have a responsibility to fulfill to society, even if science is only in its theoretical stage.
The pro-science view is against abortion. A serious ethical issue is definitely raised when medical science is applied into making abortion possible. We will be using science to play the role of God.
The pro-ethics view is also against abortion. The idea of making abortion possible is, in itself, ethically questionable. Even in its theoretical stage, the potential of abortion already rings an alarm in the ethical faculty before it becomes applied in technology.
Point 3: The message to the public.
What message are we sending to the society if abortion can be an option? Sanctity of life will go down the drain. Sanctity of marriage will mean nothing. Teachings against premarital sex will lose its gravity. Selling the idea of abortion as an option will degrade the values of the society.
Rebuttals to the pro-abortionist view
Definition war: I’ve ended it before it even started.
Point 1: Protecting the welfare of parent. The woman does not have to throw her future away because of an unwanted pregnancy.
Rebuttal: Ethical argument. It is not ethically correct to throw away another person’s future away in order to protect your own future.
Point 2: Protecting the welfare of the family. It is for the best interest of the family to do an abortion than to have a child without being able to support the child.
Rebuttal: It is hard, but not impossible. Abortion is a convenient and unethical way to alleviate economical issues at the expense of another person’s life. It will be harder to support a family with many children, but it is not impossible.
Point 3: Protecting the welfare of society. Abortion is a policy to combat the population boom. Social ills arise when families becomes poor. Poverty will affect society.
Rebuttal: Question the message of such a government to the public. It is the responsibility of the social welfare department to come up with policies to protect unwanted babies and single parents. Doing away with unwanted babies is not an option. Neither should abortion be seen as a solution to lessen the department’s burden of single parents.
Point 4: Abortion helps society to cope with rape victims. It gives the victim an option to have a new lease in life.
Rebuttal: How does one define rape? If rape is an acceptable cause for abortion, there can be many other cases where abortion can be made permissable.
Just to illustrate a point:
1. A rapist rapes a woman. Abortion is permissible.
2. A boyfriend rapes his girlfriend. Abortion is permissible.
3. A husband rapes his wife. Abortion is permissible.
In other words, if rape is one of the permissible means to obtain an abortion, it opens a whole new world of possibilities to get a license for abortion.
A boyfriend can have sex with his girlfriend, and make her pregnant. The couple can say the sex was not conscientious, and claim the cause of “rape”. The couple can get away from shouldering the responsibility of raising the child. The couple can get away from the responsibility of marriage. Pre-martial sex will have no obligations on the couple.
The husband can commit marital rape as well. Does that mean abortion is also permissible under that circumstance? Who can really define rape?
The bottomline is, once the effect of conception has taken place, the cause of that conception is not as important as how we deal with the effect. The cause of conception may not happen in the best possible way. But that is not a reason enough to get rid of the effect. Regardless of the cause of conception, abortion is not an acceptable option. If we allow abortion for one "unfortunate case", we will have to open the abortion gate for many other "unfortunate cases".
I always saw abortion as a debate topic. It is a good acedemic exercise.
But I never knew it could strike so close to home. I could've had the brother I never had.
What is your stand on abortion? I know what mine is.
Definition war: Don’t argue about the definition of life, or when does life really start. Taking that road will only lead you into a never ending argument. Don’t go technical and miss the point. Getting into the technical trap is one of the best ways to get confused, miss the point, and lose the case.
Point 1: Sanctity of life.
Scientific definitions will only serve to be technical. Philosophical definitions are esoteric in nature. Whichever way you want to define “life”, the act of stopping the birth of an unborn living being is equivalent to desecrating the sanctity of life. I’m not talking about stopping the act that starts the existence of an unborn living being. To do that, I’ll have to stop the act of sex. But sex is not the issue here. I’m talking about the act of stopping the development of a fertilized ovum that will, in its natural course, lead to the existence of a living being.
Point 2: The teleological argument.
In a circumstance that involves cause and effect, the circumstance must be viewed along with the acknowledgement of the will of a sovereign God. If the baby was not meant to be born, the process of its conception could’ve been stopped in many ways.
Just to illustrate a point:
1. The couple is separated by time and space, so conception is impossible.
2. The couple is not separated by time, but they are separated by space, so conception is not possible.
3. The couple is not separated by time nor space, but the couple did not consent to sex. So conception is not possible.
4. The couple consented to sex, but did not consent to unprotected sex, so conception is not possible.
5. The couple consented to unprotected sex, but it occurred during the wrong timing of the woman’s menstrual cycle.
6. The couple consented to unprotected sex, but there’s something wrong with the man’s fertility.
7. Or maybe the couple is so plain stupid, they just can’t get it right.
There could’ve been many other ways where conception could not have happened. But when the cause has happened, the effect cannot be treated as though it never happened. The effect must have a reason for being.
Point 3: The ethical argument.
There are 2 views in the ethical argument.
The pro-science view: Science and ethical issues are two separate issues. Ethical issues arise only when science is applied into technology.
The pro-ethics view: Science and ethical issues cannot be separated. Scientists have a responsibility to fulfill to society, even if science is only in its theoretical stage.
The pro-science view is against abortion. A serious ethical issue is definitely raised when medical science is applied into making abortion possible. We will be using science to play the role of God.
The pro-ethics view is also against abortion. The idea of making abortion possible is, in itself, ethically questionable. Even in its theoretical stage, the potential of abortion already rings an alarm in the ethical faculty before it becomes applied in technology.
Point 3: The message to the public.
What message are we sending to the society if abortion can be an option? Sanctity of life will go down the drain. Sanctity of marriage will mean nothing. Teachings against premarital sex will lose its gravity. Selling the idea of abortion as an option will degrade the values of the society.
Rebuttals to the pro-abortionist view
Definition war: I’ve ended it before it even started.
Point 1: Protecting the welfare of parent. The woman does not have to throw her future away because of an unwanted pregnancy.
Rebuttal: Ethical argument. It is not ethically correct to throw away another person’s future away in order to protect your own future.
Point 2: Protecting the welfare of the family. It is for the best interest of the family to do an abortion than to have a child without being able to support the child.
Rebuttal: It is hard, but not impossible. Abortion is a convenient and unethical way to alleviate economical issues at the expense of another person’s life. It will be harder to support a family with many children, but it is not impossible.
Point 3: Protecting the welfare of society. Abortion is a policy to combat the population boom. Social ills arise when families becomes poor. Poverty will affect society.
Rebuttal: Question the message of such a government to the public. It is the responsibility of the social welfare department to come up with policies to protect unwanted babies and single parents. Doing away with unwanted babies is not an option. Neither should abortion be seen as a solution to lessen the department’s burden of single parents.
Point 4: Abortion helps society to cope with rape victims. It gives the victim an option to have a new lease in life.
Rebuttal: How does one define rape? If rape is an acceptable cause for abortion, there can be many other cases where abortion can be made permissable.
Just to illustrate a point:
1. A rapist rapes a woman. Abortion is permissible.
2. A boyfriend rapes his girlfriend. Abortion is permissible.
3. A husband rapes his wife. Abortion is permissible.
In other words, if rape is one of the permissible means to obtain an abortion, it opens a whole new world of possibilities to get a license for abortion.
A boyfriend can have sex with his girlfriend, and make her pregnant. The couple can say the sex was not conscientious, and claim the cause of “rape”. The couple can get away from shouldering the responsibility of raising the child. The couple can get away from the responsibility of marriage. Pre-martial sex will have no obligations on the couple.
The husband can commit marital rape as well. Does that mean abortion is also permissible under that circumstance? Who can really define rape?
The bottomline is, once the effect of conception has taken place, the cause of that conception is not as important as how we deal with the effect. The cause of conception may not happen in the best possible way. But that is not a reason enough to get rid of the effect. Regardless of the cause of conception, abortion is not an acceptable option. If we allow abortion for one "unfortunate case", we will have to open the abortion gate for many other "unfortunate cases".
I always saw abortion as a debate topic. It is a good acedemic exercise.
But I never knew it could strike so close to home. I could've had the brother I never had.
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