Abortion Rights

I support a woman's unconditional right to abortion.  The decision of a woman or a couple to have a child is an intensely personal event, and nobody should be compelled to bring an unwanted child into the world. 

I do not believe abortion is morally wrong in any way.  To me, the issue turns on my view that an unborn fetus has not yet become sentient or self-aware, has not yet acquired a right to life, and is not yet a "person."

I find the anti-abortion arguments, slogans and tactics completely unconvincing.    Here are a few examples:

• Opponents will frequently display disturbing images of aborted fetuses.  Well, that just doesn't make the case.  Images of open heart surgery are also unpleasant to look at.  But the fact that the images of each medical procedure are distasteful doesn't make either one morally wrong. 
• A frequent one-liner used by abortion opponents is something like: "I'll bet you're glad that your mother didn't have an abortion." Well, of course I am.  But I'm equally glad that my dad didn't wear a condom and that my mom didn't have a headache that night.  The result would have been the same from my perspective - I never would have been born.  But no one has suggested that all of those other decisions that would have prevented my birth are morally suspect.
• One of my favorite anti-abortion bumper sticker says "Abortion stops a beating heart."  My reaction is, "Yeah, so what?  So does fishing."  Lots of things have hearts that are stopped every day that nobody bats an eye at.  Driving the car with that bumper sticker down the street probably stops dozens of beating hearts - just count the squished bugs on the windshield.  This slogan doesn't tell me why stopping the heart of an unborn fetus is different.

The Influence of Religion

Most people who oppose abortion do so on religious grounds.  In the U.S., most abortion opponents are conservative Christians.  While I'm certainly no expert on religion, I do find it interesting that the Christian Bible never condemns abortion, or even specifically mentions abortion.  In fact, the only section of the Christian Bible that sheds any light on the authors' moral views on abortion clearly differentiates between a person and an unborn fetus in terms of the protection afforded each under the law:

"If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow; he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. . .  And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth . . ."  --Exodus 21:22-25

In other words, if you hit a pregnant woman such that the pregnancy is terminated, but the woman is not otherwise harmed, you pay a fine.  If the woman is otherwise harmed, the penalty is much more severe (an eye for an eye, or a life for a life).  This distinction is sort of like the difference between a parking ticket on the one hand, and committing first degree murder on the other.  The unborn fetus, in the Old Testament, is clearly treated as some sort of property, rather than as a person.

Given the lack of biblical support for the anti-abortion position, I'm not clear on why the conservative Christian crowd is so adamant and unwavering in opposing women's reproductive rights.  I suspect that there is something more sinister at work here, involving issues of control and a desire to maintain certain traditionally male-dominated gender roles.

Last Updated 22 July 2005
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