October 9, 2021

Subject: Abortion: It’s Not About Legality… It’s About Objective Morality

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”

Columnist Dennis Prager once said that “Good societies can survive people doing immoral things. But a good society cannot survive if it calls immoral things moral.” This is exactly the point the Prophet Isaiah was making in the Old Testament book that bears his name. Israel had become so debauched in 700BC that God warned them that those who perverted His standards for objective morality would be punished.

“Objective” means that something is moral “regardless of anyone’s opinion.” The opposite, “subjective” means something is moral “based on your personal opinion.” If objective morality exists, then there will be circumstances where we will be obligated or forbidden to do various actions, regardless of what we think.

When it comes to the issue of abortion, we can all be tricked into treating the issue as one centered on whether it should be legal or illegal. But that is not the issue. With today’s technology, we now know that the right question to ask is whether ending the life of the unborn baby is objectively moral or immoral.

At the Women’s March in Washington, DC, Planned Parenthood’s President said, “Abortion is health care, basic health care, essential health care, health care that cannot wait.” To the pro-abortion advocate, the mother has an objective moral right to decide if the fetus (the unborn baby) in her womb lives or dies.

With the Texas “Heartbeat Law” going into effect in September, Governor Greg Abbott said, “Our creator endowed us with the right to life and yet millions of children lose their right to life every year because of abortion.” To the pro-life advocate, the fetus in the womb has an objective moral right to life.

We know a human fetus is a human life. So, the question is this: Does the human fetus have rights? In his article “Is Abortion Right, or Is It Wrong?”, Dennis Prager debunks the 5 arguments made by the pro-abortion movement for why abortion is objectively moral.

Abortion Argument #1: Because a human fetus is not a person, it can be aborted. Rebuttal: “A living being doesn’t have to be a person to have intrinsic moral value and rights. Many living beings are not persons and have both value and rights, like dogs.” Conclusion: Abortion Argument #1 is FALSE.

Abortion Argument #2: The mother has the moral right to end her fetus’s life under any circumstance, for any reason, and at any time in her pregnancy. Rebuttal: “Only if we believe that the human fetus has no intrinsic worth. But everyone believes that the human fetus has essentially infinite worth and an almost absolute right to live when a pregnant woman wants to give birth. Then, society — and its laws — regard the fetus as so valuable that if someone were to kill that fetus, that person could be prosecuted for homicide. Only if a pregnant woman doesn’t want to give birth, do many people regard the fetus as worthless. Now, does that make sense?” Conclusion: Abortion Argument #2 is FALSE.

Abortion Argument #3: The mother gets to decide whether the fetus has any right to live because she has the right to control her body. Rebuttal: “The fetus is not ‘her body;’ it is in her body. It is a separate body. No one ever asks a pregnant woman, ‘How’s your body?’ when asking about the fetus. People ask, ‘How’s the baby?’” Conclusion: Abortion Argument #3 is FALSE.

Abortion Argument #4: “Everyone agrees that the moment the baby exits the womb, killing the baby is murder. But deliberately killing it a few months before birth is considered no more morally problematic than extracting a tooth.” Rebuttal: How does that make sense? Conclusion: Abortion Argument #4 is FALSE.

Abortion Argument #5: Abortions are not moral decisions. Rebuttal: “Aren’t there instances in which just about everyone — even among those who are pro-choice — would acknowledge that an abortion might be immoral? For example, would it be moral to abort a female fetus solely because the mother prefers boys to girls, as happens millions of times in China?” Conclusion: Abortion Argument #5 is FALSE.

Prager concludes his article with this point: “People may differ about when personhood begins; and about the morality of abortion after rape or incest. But regarding the vast majority of abortions – those of healthy women aborting a healthy fetus – let’s be clear. Most of these abortions just aren’t moral.”

We have used logic to not only debunk all 5 abortion arguments but to also demonstrated that God’s moral position – a baby in the womb has a right to life – is objectively true. God help those subject to Isaiah 5:20.

Ed Croteau is a resident of Lee’s Summit and hosts a weekly study in Lees Summit called “Faith: Substance and Evidence.” He can be reached with your questions through the Lee’s Summit Tribune at Editor@lstribune.net.