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The Pro-Life Movement's Problem With Morality
The Washington Dispatch ^ | June 6, 2003 | Cathryn Crawford

Posted on 06/06/2003 10:32:33 AM PDT by Cathryn Crawford

The Pro-Life Movement's Problem With Morality

Exclusive commentary by Cathryn Crawford

Jun 6, 2003

Making claim to being pro-life in America is like shouting, “I’m a conservative Christian Republican!” from your rooftop. This is partly due to the fact that a considerable number of conservative Christian Republicans are pro-life. It’s hardly true, however, to say that they are the only pro-life people in America. Surprisingly enough to some, there are many different divisions within the pro-life movement, including Democrats, gays, lesbians, feminists, and environmentalists. It is not a one-party or one-group or one-religion issue.

The pro-life movement doesn’t act like it, though. Consistently, over and over throughout the last 30 years, the pro-lifers have depended solely on moral arguments to win the debate of life over choice. You can believe that abortion is morally wrong, yes, and at the appropriate moment, appealing to the emotions can be effective, but too much time is spent on arguing about why abortion is wrong morally instead of why abortion is wrong logically. We have real people of all walks of life in America – Christians, yes, but also non-Christians, atheists, Muslims, agnostics, hedonists, narcissists - and it’s foolish and ineffective for the pro-life movement to only use the morality argument to people who don’t share their morals. It’s shortsighted and it’s also absolutely pointless.

It is relatively easy to convince a person who shares your morals of a point of view – you simply appeal to whatever brand of morality that binds the two of you together. However, when you are confronted with someone that you completely disagree with on every point, to what can you turn to find common ground? There is only one place to go, one thing that we all have in common – and that is our shared instinct to protect ourselves, our humanness.

It seems that the mainstream religious pro-life movement is not so clear when it comes to reasons not to have an abortion beyond the basic arguments that it’s a sin and you’ll go straight to hell. Too much time is spent on the consequences of abortion and not enough time is spent convincing people why they shouldn’t have one in the first place.

What about the increased risk of breast cancer in women who have abortions? Why don’t we hear more about that? What about the risk of complications later in life with other pregnancies? You have to research to even find something mentioned about any of this. The pro-life movement should be front and center, shouting the statistics to the world. Instead, they use Biblical quotes and morality to argue their point.

Don’t get me wrong; morality has its place. However, the average Joe who doesn’t really know much about the pro-life movement - and doesn’t really care too much for the obnoxious neighbor who’s always preaching at him to go to church and stop drinking - may not be too open to a religious sort of editorial written by a minister concerning abortion. He’d rather listen to those easy going pro-abortion people – they appeal more to the general moral apathy that he so often feels.

Tell him that his little girl has a high chance of suffering from a serious infection or a perforated uterus due to a botched abortion, however, and he’ll take a bit more notice. Tell him that he’s likely to suffer sexual side effects from the mental trauma of his own child being aborted and he’ll take even more notice. But these aren’t topics that are typically discussed by the local right-to-life chapters.

It isn’t that the religious right is wrong. However, it boils down to one question: Do they wish to be loudly moral or quietly winning?

It is so essential that the right-to-life movement in America galvanize behind the idea the logic, not morality, will be what wins the day in this fight, because sometimes, despite the rightness of the intentions, morality has to be left out of the game. Morality doesn’t bind everyone together. The only thing that does that is humanness and the logic of protecting ourselves; and that is what has to be appealed to if we are going to make a difference in the fight to lessen and eventually eliminate abortion.

Cathryn Crawford is a student from Texas. She can be reached at feedback@washingtondispatch.com.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: abortion; feminism; humansacrifice; idolatry; prolife; ritualmurder
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To: Psalm 73
"Because..."

Because I said so? ;)

Well, what exactly makes it wrong - I mean why would it be wrong to kill everbody on the planet?

The biggest reason being that if everyone on the planet was killed, I would be amoungst the killed and so would those I loved. I have a strong self preservation instinct. And I don't have much family left livin', so I wanna keep them around too.

IF there is no moral absolute, then ANYTHING goes...(even hacking babies arms and legs off would be OK - wait, the Supremes say it IS OK - never mind).

All morals have logical foundations too. That gives them double support. I was raised to believe it was morally OK to hate blacks because they bore the mark of Cain (dark skin). Problem was, it didn't hold up against logic.

181 posted on 06/06/2003 12:37:38 PM PDT by najida (A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.)
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To: Hunble
I simply can not blindly agree with the effort to make all abortions illegal.

Well bless your heart, Humble. That's easy for you to say, seeing as how you've already been born.

Cordially,

182 posted on 06/06/2003 12:37:56 PM PDT by Diamond
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To: Lorianne
Excuse me, but the child's father is also responsible. This double standard is a big part of the reason why why are in this abortion quagmire to begin with.

_____

Agreed.
To me, abortion isn't the illness, just a symptom of the disease.
183 posted on 06/06/2003 12:38:38 PM PDT by najida (A clean house is the sign of a broken computer.)
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To: BamaGirl
Thank you. I try to write professionally - being a teenager is no excuse for not doing a good job.
184 posted on 06/06/2003 12:38:48 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: Scenic Sounds
Thank you. I should have had you ghostwrite this one for me. You stated it so well. ;-)
185 posted on 06/06/2003 12:39:55 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: Qwerty
You won't believe me, but take a hint from someone else.

Truth hurts sometimes, I believe I admitted that to you. But as I pointed out to you before, sometimes the distastefulness of a subject is equal to the argument needed to balance it. Cathryn and I have NOTHING in common on this point.

186 posted on 06/06/2003 12:41:26 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
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To: Clint N. Suhks
Nothing? You believe that abortion is moral, then?
187 posted on 06/06/2003 12:42:10 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: colorado tanker
they're taking a lot more on blind faith than we are.

Actually, some pro-aborts just hate humanity and think it needs culling, some are in it for the money, and the rest like the fact that it's easy and convenient and don't really want to think about it.

188 posted on 06/06/2003 12:43:37 PM PDT by stands2reason
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To: Lorianne
That's an absolutely great point.
189 posted on 06/06/2003 12:44:20 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: RightWhale
So, do you believe that we should simply keep abortion legal; and teach our children that they shouldn't have an abortion?
190 posted on 06/06/2003 12:46:21 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: Cathryn Crawford
No...and I'm sorry. You stataed logic [cancer, ipudence...et al] over morality is needed. That we disagree on.
191 posted on 06/06/2003 12:47:21 PM PDT by Clint N. Suhks
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To: Clint N. Suhks
Let me ask you a question - not to argue, but because I'm curious.

How would you use your morality to argue the abortion point to a hard-core moral relativist? Or a hedonist?
192 posted on 06/06/2003 12:49:11 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: Clint N. Suhks
"But as I pointed out to you before, sometimes the distastefulness of a subject is equal to the argument needed to balance it."

The argument need not be distasteful, or so I was raised to believe.

" Cathryn and I have NOTHING in common on this point."

That's not how I understand it. I think your positions have a good deal of commonality.

193 posted on 06/06/2003 12:52:27 PM PDT by Qwerty
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To: N3WBI3; Cathryn Crawford; yall
You can believe that abortion is morally wrong, yes, and at the appropriate moment, appealing to the emotions can be effective, but too much time is spent on arguing about why abortion is wrong morally instead of why abortion is wrong logically.
-CC-

Excuse me but we see murder as morally wrong as a whole in this society without a common religous frame of referance.
-N3WB13-



See #11
-CC-
Not everyone has the same moral beliefs as I do. Therefore, I will not change someone's mind by pounding into their heads the fact that I believe abortion is wrong.
That's why we have to use logic.
11 -CC-



And the moral 'logic' that must be used is that of our constitutional due process; --- under this cold logic an unviable baby is not yet a legal person, as it is an inseparable part of its mother.

Thus, abortion cannot be prosecuted as murder until the viablity
of the baby is established in a court, before a jury..

- Granted, these are cold hard legal facts, but until someone comes up with a better solution to this moral dilemma, we will have to learn to live with it.
194 posted on 06/06/2003 12:54:16 PM PDT by tpaine (Really, I'm trying to be a 'decent human being', but me flesh is weak.)
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To: netmilsmom
You don't have to be particularly religious to be repelled by murder.
195 posted on 06/06/2003 12:55:18 PM PDT by aristeides
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To: Cathryn Crawford
do you believe that we should simply keep abortion legal; and teach our children that they shouldn't have an abortion?

On part one: it's good I have no intention of running for public office. Flat statements on that topic either way will doom a campaign.

On part two: it's not a case of teaching the children. We need to encourage development of character to the point where abortion isn't considered or necessary except in medical cases. That carries over to the rest of life's decisions as well.

196 posted on 06/06/2003 12:56:16 PM PDT by RightWhale (gazing at shadows)
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To: stands2reason
Actually, some pro-aborts just hate humanity and think it needs culling

True. It was really scary to see how many people agreed with the Unibomber's views.

They justify their views by claiming we're on the verge of a Malthusian overpopulation catastrophe. Of course, even if true that wouldn't justify murder, but it's just another liberal myth.

197 posted on 06/06/2003 12:56:42 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Cathryn Crawford
He's got the wrong idea.

Damn.

198 posted on 06/06/2003 12:57:02 PM PDT by Lazamataz (I've decided to cut back my tagline, one word at a)
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To: tpaine
I thought that perhaps you would agree with this point of view, tpaine.

You cannot change someone's mind based solely on morality if they do not share the same moral standard as you.

199 posted on 06/06/2003 12:57:05 PM PDT by Cathryn Crawford (Save your breath. You'll need it to blow up your date.)
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To: tpaine
under this cold logic an unviable baby is not yet a legal person, as it is an inseparable part of its mother.

Under the cold logic of Dred Scott v. Sanford, a black was not a legal person.

200 posted on 06/06/2003 12:57:12 PM PDT by aristeides
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