Just to be crystal clear about where I stand on the abortion issue, let me state that I am opposed to abortion in all stages of pregnancy with the possible exception when the mother's life is in danger. With that being said, I would like to discuss in two aspects on how one particular book got me involved in the abortion issue.
1. What Is The Issue?
The conflict isn't about values but about facts. By 'facts', I do not mean facts of embryology. I simply mean that the pro-choicer does not believe the child in her womb has a right to life as a born child does. The critic of abortion disagrees. Hence, there is our conflict. In order to bring out what really separates the pro-lifer and pro-choicer on the abortion issue, Scott asks the following question, with regards to many popular reasons given for a woman's choice to abort: Would this reason justify killing a toddler? The reasons could vary from financial difficulties, poverty, mental and emotional stress, not able to feed the child, and so on. Would most people believe you can justify killing a toddler for the above reasons? I would say no.
If Scott is right that the real issue is about the nature and moral value of the unborn rather than other peripheral - though nonetheless important - issues, then that must come center stage in the conversation.
Putting all of this into perspective caused me to watch almost the entire lecture series as well as buy his book "The Case for Life". The reason why this book was so powerful for me was because I had trouble finding any topics of interest that were intriguing philosophically. There are many philosophical issues that permeate the abortion issue such as: duties and obligations to others, human value, personhood, and so on.
2. What Is Your Reason To Be Against Abortion?
P1: It is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being.
P2: Abortion is the intentional killing of an innocent human being.
C: Therefore abortion is wrong.
A lot of clarity and unpacking needs to be done to defend this argument. But once all of that is done, I am persuaded that any believer can walk away feeling all the more confident in his pro-life convictions. I truly and sincerely believe that appeals to Scripture will never be enough to convince someone who is not a believer about the abortion issue. If God has revealed the truth about abortion in a way accessible to any inquiring person who has some understanding of the moral law, then Christians should take complete advantage of that.
Appealing to human nature as a means of persuading someone on the abortion issue is not in opposition to God's revelation to mankind. It is part of God's revelation because it is His revelation in Creation. It was because of this that my conviction in the pro-life position has been solidified and why I still very much am passionate about advocating for the unborn.
