Apologeet.nl
The Best PRO-CHOICE ArgumentsMany of the pro-abortion arguments are actually not that hard to refute at all. That’s why I think it’s good to sort this out with you and see why we, pro-lifers, take the most logical position in this debate. I am going to do a series on this. But I probably won’t make a new part with this topic every time I make a video. It may well be some time before I add an additional part, but when I do, you can find it here.
Part 1: Introduction & World-Views
Breakfast and diner is the time for our family to read and discuss all sorts of topics. We normally come to these topics after reading a bit from the Bible. High on the list are issues like war, morality, relationships and quite often we seem to return to the topic of abortion.
After a good talk, we agreed that many of the pro-abortion arguments are actually not that difficult to counter. Therefore, I think it would be good to do this together with you and to find out why we, as pro-life folk, have the upper hand concerning rational and consistency.
These arguments are many, so I will make this into a series. However, I am not planning to stick to this plan for every next video. I might well make a video on a different topic next time. But with this start I can at least continue on this theme whenever I like.
In this part we’re not diving into the arguments yet. First it is important to tackle the biggest obstacle in this entire debate, namely the way we look at the world around us.
First things First
Before we dive into these arguments I think it would be good to explain why most pro-lifers and pro-choicers can’t agree. Even worse, it seems that both parties have a very difficult time to even understand each other's arguments or feelings. However, I do believe that the average pro-lifers is doing much better than the average pro-abortion advocate. I’ll explain that a bit later.
What am I talking about? World-Views! It is almost always the case that the two parties have opposite world-views.
Pro-lifers and Their View on Life
Many pro-lifers are Christians, but by all means not all. Still, even thought there are those who profess no religion or those who are Muslim, most of the time they have, or they use at least parts of, the Christian world-view.
This world-view is grounded in the teachings of the Lord Jesus. Jesus’ teaching leave little room for an egoistic lifestyle. For example, as a husband, I am called to love my wife the same way Jesus loved the church.
Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it
The text clearly says that a husband most be willing to give himself up for his wife. That is not very egoistic! Is it? This altruistic (which is the opposite of egoism) lifestyle has been modelled throughout the entire Bible. God is the God of the helpless and weak.
Psalm 68:5
A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, Is God in his holy habitation.
In Christianity, altruism, or selflessness, is understood as a genuine and selfless dedication to the welfare of others. This concept holds great importance in Christian doctrine, urging believers to place the needs and happiness of others before their own. By engaging in acts of kindness and generosity, Christians demonstrate these altruistic principles, mirroring the teachings of the Lord Jesus and fostering a spirit of compassion and empathy in their communities.
Pro-choicers and Their View on Life
The pro-abortion camp is often coming to this debate with a totally different starting point. Many of them—mind you! Not all—have a world-view which can be explained as naturalistic or materialistic. It is the world-view in which people don’t consider the existence of the supernatural—nature and material is all there is. They look at the world and mostly look at things as products of nature only. In this world-view there is no inherent difference between an animal and human. Both are products of evolution, both are a collection of atoms. They do recognise that humans tend to have more intelligence, but many have a difficult time understanding why humans have more rights than ‘other’ mammals like elephants or apes.
Again, no all pro-choicers adhere to this description but most of them at least deny the concept of such a thing as a human soul. And if they believe in the spiritual side of life, they mostly arbitrarily assign this to a human as suited. In other words, they then assign something like a spirit only to those of who they say qualify as human.
This world-view, sometimes called ‘secular world-view,’ only takes altruism into account when it benefits the giver. You might have noticed that doing a good deed is making you feel good? Well, within the secular world-view this is a big drive. Many just do not live out an altruistic lifestyle in which they don’t get any credits. Granted, we do see people who are very altruistic in everything. So again, this is not a law chiselled out in granite.
However, the overall theme in the secular world-view is the idea of hedonism. Another difficult word, I know. Hedonists are those who first and foremost search for their own pleasures. It needs to feel good. This good feeling can be both emotional as well as physical. The pleasures can come from being famous and well-regarded, from having friends and feeling empathy, and from learning and appreciating art, for example. However, you might have noticed that several pro-abortion arguments seem to tie into this concept perfectly. It talks about: Me, and my well-being; my future; my choice; my body; my happiness.
Why Does one’s World-View Matter?
You might not see the point yet of why these world-views matter so much. Well, let me explain.
Bible and Autonomy
Foremost, the pro-life movement recognises the unborn as a real human-being. Many will refer to the Bible in which we can read that God already sees the unborn in its earliest state. God is not referring to the unborn as non-human, He actually talks about the unborn as a person. For example, we can read how God saw and called Jeremiah as being a prophet.
Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
This is madness in the eyes of many pro-abortion advocates. Firstly, many don’t recognise the Bible as authoritative and secondly many of them don’t believe in a higher being. So, who are you to quote an old book and telling them that it is telling the truth? Pro-choicers will have a very hard time understanding why the pro-lifer isn’t thinking for him or herself. They firmly believe that those who believe in the Bible can’t really think independently. After all, the pro-choice point of view is that we, as humans, are totally autonomous in our decisions. Nobody should tell them what to do, certainly not an old book. In contrast, the average pro-lifer is willing to accept directions from, for example, the Bible, even if that means he or she isn’t the one who is going to benefit the most.
Moral Absolutes or None?
In the two different world-views as discussed earlier, we can see a huge game-changer when it comes to certain rules of life. In the pro-life camp many hold to the idea of moral absolutes. Moral absolutes assert that certain actions are intrinsically right or wrong. In other words, some things are always wrong and some things are always right. We have already seen that the pro-lifers look at the unborn as a real human-being. As human-being, the unborn has human rights, just like its mother. Ending the life of the unborn is just as wrong as ending the life of the mother. That is an absolute on which most pro-lifers agree.
Granted, they do take serious problems into account. For example, medical treatment should aim at rescuing both lives but if this fails, and if the unborn dies, it is unintentionally thus not morally wrong.i Despite all this, abortion to save the mother’s life does probably not, strictly medically spoken, exist. Although it sounds ‘noble and pure’ to those who propose abortion, in reality it is a ‘real stretch of our thinking’.ii
Looking at the pro-abortion camp we mostly see two different viewpoints on morality. Firstly we see those who hold to, what we call, moral relativism. This view basically says that there are no absolute rights or wrongs in morality. It is all relative and people from different cultures and in different times treat morality as they deem okay. It’s a type of morality that supports the idea of “everyone has their own way,” and its followers often say, “Who am I to judge others?” I think I do not have to explain the implications of this view, right?
Moral relativism is philosophically flawed. The followers are often very quick to say that those who hold to certain absolutes are judgemental and wrong. Everyone who disagrees with them is a judgemental bigot. However, by saying this, they deny their own idea that everything is relative because they just made their own view in the ruling view on morals.
A third point of view I would like to mention is that of moral pluralism. This is the notion that various conflicting values may all be equally valid and worthy of respect. Moral pluralists are usually open to different opinions. They often say that they want to look at problems from various moral angles before making decisions and taking action. They think that many moral questions are very complex, so no one philosophy can give all the answers all the time. This group can be found in both camps. These are the people who generally say that they want to have a civilised conversation. In the meantime they appear to have a very difficult time to take a stand on the matter.
Talking at Cross Purposes
When you look at these different ways of looking at life, you might understand why the debates are so heated. Pro-choicers have often no clue why pro-lifers are so, in their eyes, demanding. They just can’t get their heads around the idea that a pro-lifer wants to restrict women’s rights. In their view, the whole pro-life movement is only a way to take away the hard fought right of self-determination and bodily integrity. In their bewilderment they never once seem to understand that the pro-lifer really only wants to protect all human-beings, including unborn babies. In their view that ‘thing’ in the womb, aka the unborn, has no right whatsoever. As far as they are concerned, this ‘thing’ in the womb is just a lump of cells, and it is occupying the mother’s body and as such it is already dismissed from any rights. After all, it is all about the right of the mother. Her body is hers and hers alone. The mother should be allowed to do with her body whatever she wants. You see, here comes that hedonistic idea lurking around the corner.
And while the pro-life camp is not willing to set women back to the time in which they weren’t allowed to say anything, they do not agree with the idea that a woman has a say about the life of another human-being. The pro-life camp acknowledges the bodily integrity of the mother, but, they say, the child growing inside the womb is a human-being with its own bodily integrity.
While the pro-abortion camp just cannot understand why the others make such a big deal out of lump of cells, the pro-life camp struggles understanding why these people just can’t see it is a real human!
Understanding or Not
I said that I believe that the average pro-lifers is doing much better in understanding than the average pro-abortion advocate.
The reason I think this is the case is because, even though both camps seem to have their own view on the world, they both are accustomed to the culture they live in. The countries in which abortion is legalised are mostly pretty liberal and secular.
Let’s say we have a pro-lifer who grew up the Netherlands. Even though he or she holds strong views on the sanctity of life, the pro-lifer crew up in a very liberal and secular culture. Holding a Christian world-view, or holding to only a few aspects of this world-view, makes one already stand out in the Dutch culture. So growing up in this culture makes the pro-lifers much more used to the egoistic and relative views of others. He or she can thus easily relate to both views.
Many pro-choicers on the other hand, mostly adhere to the already prevailing world-view of their liberal and secular culture. For them to step out of their comfort zone and trying to take into account a more supernatural world-view, is like being a fish on dry land.
I think you can look at it this way. Together with my family we have been living in a very remote village on Madagascar. No clean drinking water, not enough electricity, no vegetable market in the area, no decent roads, and neighbours who hardly understand the official language of the country and all speak in a strong dialect. So now, and then we travelled to the capital city for business or a short break. Because of that we got used to both cultures. The culture in the big city and the one in the remote area. Quite often I talk with my Malagasy friends who grew up in the big city. Some of them have never been far outside the city. They mostly now about the city culture and are typically clueless about the life and habits in the remote villages. They have a hard time understanding why people in these villages do certain things so differently. Also, they hardly believe that the villagers can’t speak the official language and that many of the villagers don’t really know what a supermarket is. On the other hand, we, my family and I, know both ‘worlds’ and have less difficulty understanding both sides. When I visit the village, I am not shocked by certain habits and certain thing my neighbours do or say. At the same time I understand why my friends in the capital think the way they do.
Another thing we shouldn’t underestimate is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Granted, this is only applicable for Christians, but it is a very important thing to realise. When a person repents and is being saved by Christ, he or she will receive His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to be renewed in our minds which is what Paul urges us to do.
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul doesn’t mention the Holy Spirit in this verse, but we know that the term ‘renewal’ (anakainōsis) in this verse only appears once more in the Greek Bible, specifically in Titus 3:5. In that verse, Paul states that God saved us not because of our good deeds, but because of his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5-7 (ESV)
he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Here, we see the important word ‘renewal,’ which is directly linked to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is responsible for renewing our minds. This work is primarily His, and we rely on Him completely. The cool thing about this is that this renewal basically means a renovation and a complete change for the better. In other words: Christians have the advantage of being able to discern matters in a greater depth than those who are not blessed with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 (ESV)
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Having the mind of Christ means that we can think in ways that go beyond our own understanding. The Spirit of the Lord lives in our hearts through Christ. With His Holy Spirit in us, we have the ability to think in ways that exceed ordinary human intelligence.
So, don’t fool yourself by thinking that you are too dumb, or you’re no good in discussing difficult matters like abortion. Especially Christians should understand that such an attitude is un-Biblical because God’s word is teaching us that we have received the wonderful mind of Christ. All we have to do is obeying 2 Corinthians 10:5
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Conclusion
As said, this is just the first part of this series. For your convenience I’ll make a playlist for this series. You will find the link in the description of this video. I am not sure when I am going to make another one. It might well be that the next video is going to be a different topic, but with this first video I’ve made the kick-off for this series about the arguments made by pro-abortionists.
Sources
i Pro-Life Mississippi, ‘Are There Rare Cases When an Abortion Is Justified?’, Katherine Ranck website (https://www.prolifems.org/are-there-rare-cases-when-an-abortion-is-justified/), accessed on 04-03-2025.
ii Sloan, D. and Hartz, P., Choice: A Doctor’s Experience with the Abortion Dilemma: A Dedicated Compassionate Physician’s Forty-year Odyssey in the Service of Women Facing their most Fateful Choice, New York: International Publishers, 2002, pp. 46-47.
