Assertion #11: If a pre-born baby isn’t viable, the mother is justified in ending the baby’s life.
This claim is sometimes cited in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, in which the baby is growing in an area of the mother’s body other than the uterus, such as in the fallopian tubes, ovaries, or abdominal cavity. These pregnancies are thought to be fatal unless the baby and, at times, even the fallopian tubes, are removed. In these cases, the pregnancy ceases to be a typical pregnancy and doctors seek to save one life, rather than losing two. The medical actions taken are not to end a life, but to save life. The same is true for complications in a late term pregnancy. Medical professionals have affirmed that an abortion is never medically necessary to save a mother. A pregnancy with a child with Down syndrome or another chromosomal abnormality is a different matter. Though they experience challenges, families with a child with Down syndrome often speak of profound joy. Some have said that they cherish life more richly. Many individuals with Down syndrome go to school, even college, right alongside their peers. Their lives have equal value.
Assertion #12: A pro-life view is anti-science.
That’s not true. Science and medicine hold that, from the earliest stages of development, the pre-born are distinct, living, whole human beings. Embryology textbooks teach that human development begins at fertilization, when a male sperm unites with a female oocyte and forms a single cell called a zygote. It contains human DNA distinct from the mother’s. Therefore, a zygote is the beginning of a new, unique human being.
Assertion #13: Quit trying to force your religious beliefs on me.
Pro-life advocates don’t have to quote the Bible or draw from a faith tradition to believe that human life has value. Abortion is a moral issue because the pre-born are human beings. Is it right or wrong to end the life of a human being? Do certain circumstances dictate what’s right or wrong? Those are philosophical questions that deal with reality and existence. You are no less alive and human right now than you were as a teenager or an adolescent or a kindergartener or a toddler or an infant or pre-born in the womb. Your size, development, and self-awareness have changed, but your inherent human value has not changed in your journey to today. A pro-life view is clear: Taking the life of another person — especially a defenseless human being like a pre-born baby — is wrong.
Source: Focus on the Family.com.
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