Pro-life debate?

Question

Okay I stated in a abortion debate...."I'm pro-life but I don't believe because I disagree with it, it should be illegal."
Then some guy said, "coup out.
Abortion - you either think that thing in the mother's womb is a person or just cells. It's black and white right there. If you think it's a person, you wouldn't have an abortion. You wouldn't allow others to kill a person, why would you give other people the "choice" here? Which means - you're trying to avoid controversy and seem like a good person, but you're for abortion. You can't be against abortion, but also for choice. That's like saying I'm against murdering others unjustly, I wouldn't do it, but I'm all for the choice others have to do it.


"Oh but..." then you then you think that thing in the womb is just cells. You're pro-abortion. Just admit it.

Don't waste your time on talking politics if you don't know what you're talking about."

What is a good rebuttal to his statement?

He called me a coup out and then said I have no business in politics. Please give me something to say back to him and prove you can be pro-life but think it's okay for abortion to remain legal. Please help smart people.

I'll give 10 points to anyone that will help think of something good to say back to him.

Thank you coragraph! I love you and you win the 10 points. You are very smart and I like that. Thanks again!

Thank you demonata. You are smart too!

Answer 1

There's pro-life and then there's anti-choice.

The issue isn't whether people should have abortions or not. The issue is whether the government (the majority) is allowed to make those decisions for everyone, ignoring free will or consent. Somebody is going to make a choice. It's either the individual or the government.

More details linked below on these arguments. As to what you can say to him in rebuttal...

I've never met a single person that is pro-abortion. I've never met one that advocates people should have them. Nobody goes around trying to convince every pregnant woman to have an abortion. You don't see people lining up outside hospitals and churches waving signs that say you must abort.

There's no such thing as the pro-abortion movement. In fact, every pro-choice advocate I know personally disapproves. They are personally pro-life. But more than anything else, they feel the decision should be up to the individual, not forced on them by the government majority rule.

The concept of reproductive freedoms is not whether you agree with the individual choices being made. It's whether you think the government should have the right to take away and mandate those choices.

Why can't people understand that freedom of choice is not a minority value, even if the majority happens to disagree with the minority's choice?

Answer 2

Well I would have thrashed him right there, but then again I have a little more experience here.

I understand what your point it, you don't like abortion but you understand that there might be a need for it...as far as me personally, I detest it more so because I see it used as a fail safe for people and their totally irresponsible sexual behavior. But I also understand that if a woman will die without it, or if a woman was raped then how can you morally state they must die or have a rapists' child or they are a criminal?

Both sides of the debate are way, way too far from the center for any good changes to come about. I tend to side with the pro choice side more only because I feel the majority of pro lifers view comes from an unreliable source when it comes to public issues, that being their religious beliefs. Not to mention I dont see the outcry out of pro lifers to end the war, get rid of the death penalty or get rid of guns and stop killing the environment, not to mention all become vegetarians! If you are going to wear a badge that says "Pro life" then live the idea. At least the pro choice people are not hypocrites. Granted the idea that banning abortion will lead to women losing the right to vote and have to quit their jobs (you know the slippery slope argument) is insane...not that they word it exactly like that, but they feel it would be a blow to womens rights, but its not the case at all. It would be a blow to the irresponsible if they banned it, for the most part. Plus when you consider how many people cant have kids and want to adopt, I dont know...tough issue...

Answer 3

According to my observations of politicians, it is your friend who has no place in politics, because very few politicians state anything so unilaterally.

One good defense you can make has to do with the trade-off between the public good and what laws can really do.

Let's put it this way - you could pass a law that says everyone has to brush their teeth after every meal. It is probably a good idea if people do this, right? So why not make a law?

The reason is that laws don't FORCE anyone to obey. All laws can do is punish people. Is it appropriate to punish someone legally for not brushing their teeth? Fine them, and send them to jail for the very limited public benefit of better dental hygeine? And what about all the money for police enforcement, court cases, and so on? None of these things are free!

Okay. So now that we can see why EVERY good idea isn't made into law, let's look at abortion. If you criminalize abortion, who are you going to punish? The people who try and get them, mostly. And here's part of the problem - usually people who get abortions are doing so not because they're vicious and evil, but because they're desperate people who don't see any other way out of their problems. Is it really appropriate to ADD to their problems at that time?

And what about people who aren't caught? They are likely to start using underground ways of getting abortions. We see some of them even now in people who are too embarrased. One pregnant teen recently tried to strangle herself until her unborn baby asphyxiated. Other means are no kinder to the mother OR the baby.

So one of the biggest problems with criminalizing abortion is that you're going to make troubles worse for the most troubled, indirectly cause deaths that are far more gruesome and odious than the ones you were trying to prevent, and otherwise encourage a greater environment of shame, secrecy, and hatred, instead of openness and counseling which might even cause many pregnant women to change their minds.

In that sense, no matter how bad they may think abortion is, there are many people who absolutely want it to remain legal because they believe it to be more beneficial to society and to all the mothers as a whole!

Answer 4

Tell him that you don't believe that having an abortion is the right thing to do necessarily. However, in dire circumstances it may be your only choice.

Tell him your pro choice and that you don't advocate abortion as a form of birth control. But if a girl is raped and isn't physically equipped to have an abortion, she has the right to abort it within a certain period of time. You cant abort a 6 month old fetus but within a 15 week period after conception abortion is still legal. Of course there are gray areas in every debate...but you are pro-choice.

Answer 5

It's a matter of semantics.

Pro-life is generally attributed to people who believe abortion is wrong. Pro-choice - that you believe a woman has a right to choose. The two aren't black and white. You can morally oppose abortion yourself, but not force your moral values on others by saying it should be illegal for another woman.

Then your argument is one of legallity, not morallity.

Of course, depending on your stance, you could simply say you don't agree with it unless there are extenuating circumstances like...pregancy from a rape, fetal anomalies, if the mother's life is at risk.

Answer 6

You could point out that your belief that the embryo is a person comes from religion, and there is separation of church and state. I'm pro-choice because I believe that the embryo is in fact just a clump of cells. That's really all it is. If you're pro-life, then why not be anti-masturbation? I'm not actually kidding. The logic flows perfectly. If an embryo is a person, then by killing sperm through masturbation you are actually killing potential people! How revolting! I do respect the fact that you realize it is another person's choice. That is not common among zealots of a particular cause.

Answer 7

Life is about making choices i am pro-choice and have had a few abortions myself over the years. reasons being i was young dumb and knew i was unable to support a child that deserved better at that time than what i could provide, ask the person who wants to debate with you, who will take care of these unwanted babies? what about drug addict parents should they bring children into this world who have no fighting chance? with all the hate that is going on with all races of people why who i or anyone else bring children who will hate when they find out they are not wanted or should we just have women having babies and dumping them like road kill what is more humane? until a man can stand in a womans shoes and do what we do, feel what we feel and not leave us pregnant especially teen pregnancy my pro-choice stands.

Answer 8

This is why abortion is such a divisive issue. If you believe it's a child, there is no excuse for killing it unless it actually threatens the mother's LIFE. I am the grandchild of a rapist. Should my mother have been aborted? I HOPE not! No other group other than police and military has the right to kill others. Why should women be different? They claim that it's their body, but it is not. No one can have two seperate sets of DNA. A little honesty would be nice here. The truth is that abortion isn't about the life of the child, it is about power, and who wields it.

Answer 9

If he thinks that's a "cop out," that's his prerogative, just like it is--and should be MY (my family's and mine) prerogative to decide what's best for our family.

Regardless of whether or not I think "it's" a person or it isn't, I think it should be MY (my family's and mine) choice to do what we think is best. Not the government, not the Church's, and certainly not THAT guy's. As I said the last time, pro-choice people are solely pro-choice NOT pro-abortion. THAT is just rhetoric; plain ole propaganda by the pro-life movement. And then ask him if he's for capital punishment, which would mean that he's pro some life and not others aka hypocrite.

Answer 10

Roe v. Wade should not be overturned any time quickly. maximum people who're professional-existence are so for ethical reasons. The nuts that attack abortion clinics characterize an quite small faction of radicals...yet they left seems to think of each and every physique who's professional-existence is like certainly one of them. i'm professional-existence interior the sense that i could in no way prefer my baby aborted, yet while people prefer to do it, it particularly is criminal and that i does no longer attempt to provide up them...notwithstanding till there's a competent reason, like a risk to the existence of the mother to grant delivery, there is not any ethical excuse for abortion.