How to Respond to the Most Common Pro-Choice Arguments – Part 1
07 Mar, 2023
Have you ever felt stumped by a pro-abortion argument, unsure of how to respond?
At Your Options Medical, we acknowledge that because of cancel culture, it is becoming increasingly difficult as pro-life Christians to express our voices and godly convictions in a society that is growing more hostile towards us every day.
With so much misinformation and often outright lies rapidly spreading, we know that it can be daunting to have conversations with those who are pro-abortion or who are simply unsure about their stance on abortion.
This is why we are launching a brand new Pro-Life Apologetics Campaign. This campaign will take place over the next two months, where we will present the most prevalent pro-abortion arguments and offer you vital information that will equip and prepare you to face any opposition.
In this blog, we will highlight 4 of the most common arguments that those who are pro-choice often present in support of abortion.
1. “It’s my body, my choice. Everybody has the right to choose.”
This is the most common, prevalent argument that the pro-choice side often presents. “My body, my choice” is a mantra repeated over and over as a reason to advocate for abortion.
This phrase would be a valid argument if it were objectively true. We, as human beings, do have the right to bodily autonomy. However, we know that in the case of abortion, there is another life that is involved – a little baby who will be directly affected by whatever decision the mother makes.
Therefore, this poses the question: everybody has the right to choose…what exactly? It’s my body, my choice…to do what exactly? It’s simple: the end of those statements always concludes with innocent life being ended. What “my body, my choice,” really means is: my body, my choice to give my baby life or to take my baby’s life.
And this is why this phrase will never be a valid argument in the face of abortion. A right is not valid if a woman only applies it to herself and refuses to grant those same rights to others. Simply put, a woman’s right over her own body does not include the right to end the life of an innocent human being.
2. “I’m personally against abortion, but I’m still pro-choice. Everyone is free to believe what they want.”
Live Action founder and president, Lila Rose, states, “The reality is, if we acknowledge that abortion takes the life of a human being, then we should be opposed to all abortions.”
Over 64 million babies have been aborted since the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Millions upon millions of innocent children’s lives taken in just fifty years. This is an injustice that was fought for back in 1973 and one that is still being advocated for in 2023.
If someone took the argument “I’m personally against abortion, but I’m still pro-choice,” and replaced the word abortion with slavery or the Holocaust, how would that sound? During the Holocaust, over 6 million European Jews and around 5 million other prisoners of war were killed. And between the 16th and 19th centuries, around 10 to 12 million enslaved Africans were transported along the Transatlantic Slave Trade – a route that circulated from Europe to Africa, to the Americas and then back to Europe.
We can all agree that the Holocaust and slavery were unspeakably evil and immensely dark times that took place. Can we not also agree that the 64 million lives that have been lost to abortion is also evil? This is not a matter of comparing which one is the greater evil. This is simply another matter of unjust treatment of a specific demographic of innocent people. How can we idly stand by in silence?
German pastor, theologian and anti-Nazi dissident, Dietrich Bonhoffer once said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
In the issue revolving around abortion, there is no such thing as being pro-choice, but anti-abortion. To not act in the face of evil, is to be an enabler for such evil instead. To be passive and neutral when millions of babies’ lives have been taken and many more are being threatened every day, serves as a participant in such evil.
Lila Rose pointed out that abortion is “the greatest civil rights crisis of our time and we can’t just sit on the sidelines.” Now is the time to be brave and bold for the millions of innocent babies around us.
3. What if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or child?
As a Neonatologist, Dr. Kendra Kolb has consulted and advised countless mothers with high-risk pregnancies. She states:
“What women deserve to know is that even in the most high-risk pregnancies, there is no medical reason why the life of the child must be directly and intentionally ended with an abortion procedure.”
She adds that in situations where the mother’s life is truly in jeopardy, “her pregnancy must end and the baby must be delivered. These situations occur in cases of mothers who develop dangerously high blood pressure, have decompensating heart disease, life-threatening diabetes, cancer or a number of other very serious medical conditions. Some babies do need to be delivered before they are able to survive outside of the womb, which occurs around 22 to 24 weeks of life. Those situations are considered a pre-term delivery, not an abortion.”
Many individuals who use this argument confuse the necessary medical treatment for an ectopic pregnancy with an abortion. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the preborn baby implants outside of the uterus, creating an environment where the baby cannot survive. The medical treatment for an ectopic pregnancy is to remove the baby from that environment. This is a tragic and devastating situation, but it is not considered an abortion. This is because the intent and ultimate goal of these treatments is not to end a baby’s life, but to save a life.
Dr. Kendra Kolb concluded her statement with: “Abortion unnecessarily ends the lives of children and may also result in serious medical and psychological risks to women. A mother’s life is always a paramount importance, but abortion is not medically necessary to protect her life or health.”
4. “Abortion is a decision between a woman and her doctor. It’s no one else’s business what she decides to do with her body.”
Did you know that most women are not confirming their pregnancy at a doctor’s office? The majority of the time, women take a home pregnancy test and then will not see a medical professional until they are towards the end of their first trimester. Not to mention, a doctor or OB/GYN is rarely ever going to meet with a woman who is a few weeks pregnant to speak about her options. This is not a conversation that most doctors will have; therefore, these women may be reaching a decision to have an abortion simply based on their own information. They are not getting the facts from an actual, licensed doctor.
It is also important to note that oftentimes, most women do not even have the opportunity to consult with their doctor before they perform this invasive procedure. In most cases, the abortionist makes their first appearance when the woman is “ready for her procedure,” they perform the abortion and then promptly leave afterwards.
Former abortionist, now a Pro-Life advocate, Dr. Anthony Levatino once stated, “[as abortionists,] keeping an emotional distance from our patients is an essential part of our work.” If an abortion is a decision between a woman and her doctor, then why are women not even given the chance to speak with one prior to this high-risk procedure?
As for “it’s no one else’s business what she decides to do with her body” – once again, if a woman was truly exercising her own bodily autonomy, where her actions would not affect anyone else, then this statement would be true. However, as we know, there is not only one body involved in a pregnancy, but two, three or even four bodies involved (twins, triplets, etc.) There is no such thing as exercising your right to bodily autonomy when you do not intend to extend that same right to those directly involved in your decision-making process.
Furthermore, abortion is not just a women’s issue. A baby girl is just as much her father’s child as she is her mother’s. Society loves to silence men willing to stand up for pre-born babies in the conversation around abortion, but those fathers have every right to voice themselves and be fully present in that decision-making process.
Conclusion
We encourage you to be bold and courageous – please prayerfully consider one other person you can share this blog with. The more educated we are about these topics, the more fruitful and productive conversations we can have with one another.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this blog, where we will highlight four more of the most common arguments presented by pro-abortionists.