A question for pro lifers?

Question

i have seen many questions related to abortion on these boards, and the ones from the pro life side invariably rely on fallacious arguments and a complete mis-representation of the issue. so if you could be so kind pro lifers, explain to me why abortion is wrong, in a sound, cogent argument, that does not rely on any of these :http://www.don-lindsay-archive.org/skeptic/arguments.html

prettylady; not all killing is wrong. think war, self defense. also, appeal to emotions, selective reading, appeal to authority, and strawman. now now, i asked to NOT to use fallacious arguments.

hava something, try this syllogism, murder is illegal, abortion is not, so abortion is not murder.
murder is a *legal* term for the unlawful killing of another person. a fetus is not a person under the law, and the killing of a fetus is not illegal. *yawn*

no, i wasn't really expecting anyone to read it all. i just find it funny that none of them can form an argument without relying on fallacies.

oooh, lots of red herrings tonight. congrats on your fallacies.

scott peterson was tried with two counts of murder, because *he* elected to kill the fetus against the will of the woman. a woman can elect to terminate a pregnancy, someone else cannot do that for her. nice red herring. if it is murder explain to me why those are the only circumstances under which anyone is tried for killing a fetus.

andy, red herring, burden of proof.

garwy, please read what i asked. i asked for pro lifers to provide a logically sound argument against abortion. i said nothing about aborting nearly full term fetuses.
*cough* red herring *cough*

i fail to see how i am guilty of fallacious arguments, when i haven't made an argument. i only asked people to provide a reasonable one themselves.
also: Fetus: The unborn offspring from the end of the 8th week after conception (when the major structures have formed) until birth. Up until the eighth week, the developing offspring is called an embryo.
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3424

no, gawry isn't right. take a logic course.

Answer 1

Well, I'm broadly pro choice, and thus an interloper, however, it does everyone good to put on the other hat to understand why those with differing opinions have them, and to extend them the courtesy of putting your own intellect at the service of their beliefs, so disclaimer stated here goes.

The question you have asked is why abortion is wrong, but that question can be better answered by restating it as WHEN abortion is wrong, because why implies a moral absolute and thus invokes philosophical arguments which end up in ideological disputes.

Abortion can be wrong when a woman is pressured to have it against her wishes because of social and economic pressures. The emotional scars some women bear from this happening are very deep.

If a woman is suffering from mental illness and wishes to abort because she is depressed, then she should have an advocate to help her decide and perhaps not be granted permission to abort.

There are circumstances where abortion would endanger both lives.

Late term (third trimester) abortion blurs is a really tricky issue because the fetus at this point is indisputably sentient and capable of survival if bought to term prematurely. It is a shame that moral and religious campaigners have forced women into the third trimester in order to prevent more legitimate abortion being obtained in the first or second.

The pro life lobby almost always invoke the argument of when abortion is legitimate and this is the battleground pro choice people need to claim back because the pro life agenda is ultimately against all termination, even the morning after pill, but they fight this battle incrementally.

You could argue I have redefined your question to answer it, and there is some truth to that, but really I cant find any better way to answer it.

Answer 2

If the killing of a fetus is not murder, then explain how Scott Peterson was charged with and convicted of 2 counts of murder?...one for his wife and one for the unborn child.

Maybe you should hold yourself to the same standards and not be using fallacious arguments yourself; bandwagon argument (once a justification for slavery), argument ad nauseam (say it enough, it must be true), euphamistic language (notice how the language around abortion is all "cleaned" up; fetus is latin for baby so let's just admit it's a baby). Of course, the most relevant is that the standard of law requires that all persons are equal under the law, what is unlawful for one cannot lawful for another. Unfortunately, the law doesn't always do what is right. Afterall, it wasn't all that long ago it used to be perfectly legal to own, sell, beat, even kill other people because they were seen as less human. Sound familiar?

You did make an argument. By asking for us to tell you why abortion is wrong, you asserted that abortion was not wrong. I asserted that abortion is wrong because it is murder and that the murder of an unborn baby has Scott Peterson in prison. You argued that Scott Peterson was tried and convicted of murder because only a woman has the legal right to decide when to kill an unborn baby. I made the argument that the law has not always done what is right since slavery was once perfectly legal. So is the law always right? Answer the question.

Answer 3

It is murder. There is some human life. Something is growing, something is developing, something that will be a child a human being. To terminate that is to terminate a life. You are placing another beings life into your hands and deciding what to do with it. If your mother had aborted you, you would not exist. its as simple as that, wouldnt you consider ending your existance murder. Pro choice? whose Choice....certainly not the individual whose life and death is being so casually decided.

Answer 4

i think most people would argue that abortion of a full-term pregnancy is wrong, since most people would consider that a full-term fetus is for all practical purposes indistinguishable from a human being.

if you are suggesting that terminating a healthy pregnancy a week before full term is a reasonable procedure i think you may be muddying the issue rather than clarifying it.

Answer 5

Have you noticed that all those people that advocate abortion have already been born? You have been born and that is why you are asking this stupid question. Imagine for a second you were that embryo in the bottle that they have on display in med school... Even such simple forms of life as yourself are sacred. Thats one of the basic ethics principles this civilization is founded upon.

Answer 6

the world would be a much better place if people used more intelligence and didnt get knocked up so much and more people adopted the kids who are already born, that would make abortion a moot point

Answer 7

If you can explain how women are so loving and caring of children and yet are still pro-child killing then I'll give you an answer.

Answer 8

i get what ur saying. but do you really expect someone to read all that. me personally im pro choice....but that list is incredibly long. this is a battle that wont ever be solved. :0

Answer 9

why waste your time with this question? ..we will never all see eye to eye. Are you feeling guilty or something?

Answer 10

You can cough all you like. Garwy is right.