Life: Defining the Beginning by the End

First Things ^ | May 2003 | Maureen L. Condic

[Cordova Belle]

Thanks for the ping, and a pro-life BTTT.

[victim soul]

Bump and read later

[bourbon]

thanks for posting this essay. I read it in First Things just recently and was considering posting it myself until I saw that you had beaten me to it.

All the time, I hear people say you have to be "religious" to be pro-life. Usually, they mean by this statement 1) that pro-lifers are driven to their views by specific religious commands or doctrines and 2) that pro-life positions cannot be defended on a strictly rational or scientific grounds. While most pro-lifers are religious (like me), it is a rank falsity to say that one must be religious to be pro-life. Additionally, I find the subtextual argument that religious arguments are irrational per se to be quite offensive.

That said, I think that this essay is a wonderfully concise and clearly rational defense for viewing life as beginning at conception. Consequently, it occurs to me that this essay could be a powerful tool in convincing non-religious types that abortion is a moral evil.