Apologetics Series: Fundamental Apologetics
Abortion is the gravest injustice of our time. Preborn children are voiceless in this fight, and they need us to stand up for them. An essential part of being an effective pro-life activist is the ability to change hearts and minds for life. Representing the pro-life position takes practice, empathy, and patience. It is key that when we oppose abortion, we do it in the most pro-life way possible.
Our position is simple: preborn children are living human persons and abortion kills them and is therefore wrong. When we speak with proabortion advocates we must show them that we respect all persons by first respecting them and speaking to them with love. They will not care what we have to say, if we do not say it with care. The reality is that our prolife activism starts with how we act and secondarily what we say.
The greatest thing about the truth is that it defends itself. The reality is that the pro-life position is clear and straightforward, and our goal is to present it well.
Here are the basic points of pro-life apologetics:
Preborn children are human beings:
We know that preborn children are human from the moment of fertilization. Human beings can only beget human beings (this means that I will never produce a cat!). Steve Jacobs, a former Illinois Right to Life director, conducted a research study at the University of Chicago which found that 97% of biologists from around the world agree that human life begins at fertilization.
The core issue:
The scientific consensus is clear: abortion kills a human being. So, why do so many people think that abortion is justified? Understanding and responding to the multitude of answers people use to justify abortion is the core of the abortion debate.
How abortion is often “justified”:
Our position is that since abortion kills an innocent human being it is never justified, however, that does not stop abortion advocates from trying! Here are the top reasons often used to justify abortion:
1. Bodily Autonomy of the Mother.
2. Lack of Perceived Consciousness of Preborn Children.
3. The Circumstances of the Mother.
We will explore these top reasons in future apologetic series blogs; however, the basic answer is that “there is no philosophical difference between you now and you as an embryo that justifies killing you.”
The best way to demonstrate that reality is to “trot out the toddler,” which is a philosophical debate technique developed by Justice for All. This technique focuses on highlighting how unjust abortion and the justifications used to allow it are. For example, imagine a pregnant mother of three goes to her ob-gyn and says, “I cannot keep this baby and need an abortion because I am not ready.” Instead of offering her an abortion, her doctor says, “let’s kill Tommy, your 5-year-old, to make room for this new baby.” On its face, this is ridiculous of course, but that is the reality of the justifications for direct abortion. You don’t solve problems by killing people and that is exactly what abortion is used for.
In abortion discussions, it is imperative to always bring it back to the humanity of preborn children and thee “trot out the toddler” technique is very useful at steering the conversation back. Abortion advocates must grapple with the reality that abortion kills innocent human being and its our job to continue to bring these children to the forefront in this contentious debate.
