Before reading this post, I would recommend reading my first article: #1 How to be a Pro-Life Democrat. That being said, I would now like to discuss the many fallacious arguments that are put forth in support of both sides.

Pro-Choice Fallacies:

1. Liberty and Privacy: This is the most widely heard and dangerous fallacy of them all. Many people wrongly believe that the abortion debate is over privacy and a woman’s right to “choose”. In fact, abortion is about 1 thing: the science and philosophy of life. If a fetus is “alive”, then that fetus deserves the same inalienable rights as anyone else, and to kill that fetus is murder. If the fetus is not “alive”, then obviously the woman should have the right to make whatever decision she wants. Thus, privacy is only a secondary issue that is without importance if the fetus is deemed “alive” (not to mention the shabby evidence of a “right to privacy” in the first place. Try finding that word in the Constitution…). Lastly, it should be mentioned that the Declaration of Independence speaks about the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. These rights are placed in this order because the former trumps the latter, ergo the right to life trumps ones right to liberty. Consequently, anyone who believes that the fetus is “alive”, cannot by reason of liberty or privacy logically argue for the right to abortion. As a result, “life” is still the only important question, which makes the questions of liberty and privacy logical fallacies.
2. Back-Alley Abortions: We have all heard the argument that if we prohibit abortion, women will still get the procedure illegally (with greater danger to themselves). However, this logical fallacy is simple as such reasoning can be said about anything thats illegal: if drugs were legal, it wouldn’t be so dangerous to get heroine. Or, we should legalize murder, because people are gonna do it anyways. Once again, this argument fails to understand the foundation of the abortion debate. If the fetus is “alive”, then the life of the fetus trumps the liberty of the woman anyways. And if a woman tries to have an abortion, she ought to be prosecuted for attempted murder. However, if the fetus is not “alive”, then obviously the woman should have a right to an abortion and there ought to be no need for back-alley procedures. It should also be mentioned, on a practical note, that if abortion were illegal, a much smaller percent of women would risk killing themselves for an abortion. I understand that we must be pragmatic at times, however, in the case of life and death, this is hardly a time for utilitarianism.
3. Don’t Have an Abortion: Another popular argument, pro-choice supporters argue that if you disagree with abortion, then don’t have one! This is logically fallacious for 2 reasons: first, it once again forgets that the foundational question of abortion is whether the fetus is “alive”. If so, than one can hardly advice another to simply allow murder to occur. That like saying, “If I’m not murdering you, than shut up!” Secondly, this argument doesn’t make sense by simple analogy. What if I were to say, “If you don’t like slavery, than don’t own a slave!” Obviously this wouldn’t be acceptable by any current standard. To make such an argument is to relegate abortion or slavery to a preference (like drinking coffee with or without sugar), rather than a universal standard of right and wrong.
4. Crime Rate: This argument, popularized by the book “Freakonomics”, is what I believe to be one of the best arguments for abortion - simply due to its sheer practicality. The author claims that abortion is the only way to explain the large crime rate drop, lowering the rate of unwanted low-income babies growing up in urban areas. This also makes sense from a neo-malthusian standpoint, which argues that over time the worlds output will no longer be able to sustain our needs due to overpopulation. This is logically fallacious only if you were to argue that the question of life actually mattered, which would then make murder wrong and thus make the right to an abortion depend, once again, solely on the question of whether a fetus is actually “alive”; not to mention that if we were committing murder, than the crime rate would obviously go up, thus making the argument moot. However, the brilliance, or perhaps nefariousness, of this argument is that the question of life doesn’t matter. Instead, the argument goes to the extremes of utilitarianism and questions whether the murder of living fetuses is a necessary evil for which the ends justifies the means. Although I would argue no, in this context the argument completely avoids the foundational question of life.
5. Death Penalty: Although this doesn’t actually have to do with my foundational argument, I would like to mention that its not necessarily hypocritical to be against abortion but for the death penalty. Although I am personally against the death penalty, the two issues are not fully analogous: one has to do with the right to life, the other with the issue of justice. Don’t confuse these issues and then make an ad hominem attack. Although if your argument is based simply upon the sanctity of life, this is a good point.

Pro-Life Fallacies:

1. Adoption: Are there people in the world who are looking for a child to adopt? Yes. Should a woman have to go through pregnancy simply to make someone else happy? No. The question remains whether the fetus is “alive” or not. If it isn’t, than there is no reason for a woman to have to go through pregnancy. If it is, than the argument of adoption is unnecessary and thus moot. Not to mention, on a practical note, that the actual act of adoption is incredibly difficult due to the many laws enacted in the states.
2. Murder: Since I cannot prove that the fetus is “alive” after conception, I can only argue from a state of oughtness and/or caution. However, it is logically incoherent as well as asinine to call a pro-choice supporter a “murderer”. Not only is it unpersuasive, but you’re jumping to conclusions for which you have no right. You may believe it is murder, and you may think it is logical that our country be more careful, but you cannot say with full certainty that abortion is murder. As such, these words shouldn’t be thrown around so impetuously.
3. The Bible: Not to say that your interpretation of the Bible is incorrect, I only argue that the question of abortion, even in the biblical text, is not as clear as many would think. Its easy to say that the Bible defines life at conception, its much harder to prove. And since all, or most, passages having to do with abortion come from the Old Testament, it seems suspect why so many conservative Jews still believe in the right to an abortion. Lets look at some of the usual verses used as proof of a biblical definition of life at conception:

“And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him; and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life.” (Exodus 21:22-23)

Ironically, this verse seems to argue the antithesis of what many interpret it to say. Although the verse does call for a punishment of the man, the punishment is not death. This seems to go against the OT notion of a life for a life, which begs the question of whether the unborn baby was actually a “life”. However, I would also note that the definition of the Hebrew word for “miscarriage” is contested, and that it could mean “to come forth”, meaning that the baby was born due to the act. I do not judge which interpretation is correct, I would encourage you to look into this if you’re interested.

“Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb? (Job 31:15)

Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother’s womb. (Psalms 22:9-10)

For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. (Psalms 139:13-16)

Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, `Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. (Isaiah 44:2)

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone, (Isaiah 44:24)

All of these verses, and more, are highly ambiguous and contested. Words like “in the womb”, “formed” and such can be hyperbolic, not to mention that many of these verses can be found within a context of highly poetic non-literal chapters.

I must be clear that I do not consider myself a theologian. I do not wish to insult those who are religious, nor do I claim any ability to interpret the Bible and make a judgment on when the Bible says life begins. I only point out that the answer is less obvious than many would pretend (there is no verse that says “life begins at conception”) and question why religious groups have become so caught up on an issue that is never directly mentioned in the Bible, while many of them remain silent on helping the poor, which is mentioned dozens of times.

The point of this post is simply to show that both sides have a tendency to misunderstand the foundation of this debate. By looking at abortion from a purely philosophical point of view, one can see that this issue is generally plagued by inessential commentary.

For those of you not convinced or still looking for further truth, I will next delve into the philosophy behind this debate. I encourage you to read on - #3 Abortion: A Philosophy of Life and Liberty