A Pro-Life Apology (It's not what you think)--Secular Anti-Abortion Arguments Summary:

Throughout history many good people have been seduced by bad ideas. Foremost among these is the belief that human beings may be legally killed during the first nine months of life. The excerpt at left, unequivocally refuting the pro-“choice” premise, appeared under "life" in Taber's standard medical reference the same year abortion was legalized by Supreme Court justices who pretended the beginning of life was debatable. This tragic error casts our most noble principles in the light of hypocrisy. Reproduction correctly understood and defined by Webster's New World Dict. is the "process by which animals and plants produce new individuals." Fishbein's Illustrated Medical & Health Encyclopedia '85 defines "conception" (fertilization) as "the beginning of life for a new individual." Therefore, abortion cannot be a "reproductive" right, because it does not prevent reproduction—a process ending at fertilization with the existence of a new individual but commonly confused with gestation, which is merely the internal nurturing of that individual. We accept infants as persons though they lack definitively human qualities (ex. rationality) and this precedent demands equal treatment of the unborn. Obsession with sexual freedom and temptation toward medical exploitation of embryos can blind us to pro-life logic, but eventually we must face the painful truth about our fatal discrimination against the unborn, into which so many have been unwittingly led. Let's find the courage to admit the facts and pass right-to-life legislation, and teach the rationale behind it so abortion will no longer be sought as a means to an end; only then will our laws truly uphold what we all profess to believe in—the value of a single human life. Sincerely, K. Smith

Sources:

To use the Taber's quote above, copy the text here reproduced without italic emphasis, followed by source citation: "Biologically, unitary life begins at the moment of conception and ends at death. However, for legal and other reasons the definition of when life begins has been subject to a variety of interpretations. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that life is a continuum which can be arbitrarily but not logically indicated as having begun at some point in time or development past the moment of conception."- Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. [entry for "life" pg. L-30] Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Company, 1973. (12th edition)

Other Sources:

Guralnik, David B., ed. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984.

Fishbein's Illustrated Medical and Health Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: H.S. Stuttman Inc., 1985.

Statement of Purpose::

Please consider the preceding summary of secular anti-abortion arguments. Its aim is to demonstrate that the pro-life philosophy when correctly explained transcends religious faith and political ideology. We are at a moral and ethical crossroads. The PETA-promoted animal-rights philosophy of Influential Princeton professor Peter Singer (who defends bestiality and medical experimentation on disabled humans instead of chimps) advances his argument for legalized infanticide for children under two via a camouflaged redefinition of “personhood”--in theory an extended murderous return policy for parents, and in practice a post-natal philosophical buffer to protect legalized abortion. It’s a disturbing issue, especially considering the numbers of aborted unborn children, their parents, and the friends and families involved. But let's look at ourselves and our loved ones and ask one fundamental question: Do I really believe that we were all worthless for the first 9 months of our lives?--that our living bodies might have been legally destroyed and discarded as medical waste? What is worse than being deceived into ending your own child's life, enabled by those you trust and admire. How sad it would be to realize at life's end that one's gifts of talent and influence were used on the wrong side of the most basic human rights debate. The vaguely phrased "I have the right to choose" is an unfinished sentence that begs the question. Correctly define that choice and then ask what we ultimately value.

The text above is from a postcard sent to every member of the U.S. Congress and all the celebrities who attended or endorsed the 2004 Washington, D.C. March for Women’s Lives in support of continued legalized abortion. My intent was to summarize the secular arguments against abortion in a way that makes the pro-life philosophy relevant to whoever reads it, regardless of their faith or political ideology. When contacting the members of the “pro-choice” Celebrity Coalition, I added the introduction below that addressed responsible use of one’s talent and influence and noted the PETA-abortion connection. (Ironically, many actors and musicians who deny rights to the unborn also aggressively promote animal rights via PETA, an organization that defends and promotes the animal liberation ethics of Peter Singer, despite the fact that his philosophy advocates not only abortion, but also legal killing of newborns and acceptance of sex with animals. PETA truly is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. [More to come on PETA and Singer]

A Word on “Apology”--A Logic Term with Greek Derivation

Note that in titling this web page, the word "apology" is used in its original sense, which is nearly the opposite of its more familiar meaning of expressing regret. Webster's New World Dictionary gives the first definition of “apology” as "a formal spoken or written defense of some idea, religion, philosophy, etc."--from the Greek "apologia" ("apo" meaning "from," plus "logos" meaning "speech"--for more on the word derivation look up "logic" in a good dictionary and read the etymology that comes before the definitions).

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If You Already Recognize The Unborn As

Vulnerable Human Beings With A Right to Life,

consider these comparative statistics when deciding what priority

this fact should have in deciding your vote each election year.:

For Unborn Children

Every Day Is Sept. 11th

Approximately 3000 killed 9/11/01

(at World Trade Center & Pentagon)

At least 4000 aborted each day

(in the United States of America)

There will be no peace in the world

Until there is peace in the womb

The Necessity of “Pro-Life” as the Logical First Priority:

Neither the age, intelligence, or pain of victims nor the grief caused by their deaths can be legitimately used to deny a human being’s right-to-life. Therefore, now that the humanity of the unborn child has been demonstrated, the statistical comparison with September 11^th given above is a perfectly valid illustration of the horrific injustice of abortion. The slaughter of tens of millions of unborn children demands a reorganization of our own priorities to support pro-life candidates and organizations. The unborn cannot speak for themselves, so we must speak for them--nothing is more important, and in terms of sheer numbers there is no more urgent need to save lives. Cynical politicians deride anyone who selflessly sacrifices for the sake of principles the elites regard as old-fashioned nebulous ideals--particularly the absolute value of life and truth. But it is only when these fundamental ideals are firmly in place that we have a foundation on which to build the lesser but worthwhile levels of society and culture. If governments do anything at all, if they have any reason to justify their existence--they should protect the most vulnerable human beings from being killed. Yet this is exactly what most of our politicians consistently, often adamantly and even proudly refuse to do.

As such, there is an urgent need for the people themselves to advance pro-life values, in whatever way they can, among the general public and politicians--with the ultimate goal being the full legal protection of the unborn. Not everyone can be a pro-life activist in the public arena by making speeches and protesting at clinics, but we can all be pro-life in the voting booth, the privacy of which leaves us no excuses. Stay informed about right-to-life issues by regularly visiting pro-life organizations’ websites -- particularly National Right to Life Committee which gives politicians’ voting records and organizes letter writing campaigns to government officials and representatives. Please take the time also to read A Pro-Life Argument Against Anti-Abortion Violence. It is important that all those in the pro-life movement learn to logically dissuade the small number of abortion opponents who’ve tragically fallen into the end-justifies-the-means philosophy practiced by pro-abortionists. It may be that these few resort to vigilantism because of an error in logic rather than moral error; it seems they have chosen correct analogies for the unborn victims of abortion, but are using and acting on a faulty analogy for the perpetrators of abortion, and the essay linked above explains this in more detail. This problem must be specifically addressed in order to correct it--we use logic to persuade our pro-abortion opponents, we must also use logic to deter that tiny but destructive minority of anti-abortionists who in their frustration are tempted to take the law into their own hands. BACK TO TOP

Go to Topics Page

Click for Intro to Summary

“Apology” used and defined (in its original sense)

Click here for a message to

pro-choice celebrities, and a few words on PETA and the connection between abortion and animal rights

We can all be pro-life on the one day each year when our voice is truly heard

-- the voting booth

A Statistical Perspective on Pro-Life as a First Priority