If a reduction in abortion is your goal why not focus on the methods that work rather than making it illegal? Why do you or I get to determine when someone else believes personhood to begin?
If the goal is saving lives why don’t you advocate for forced, regular blood donation or a mandate that would require every adult to register with the nation bone marrow registry?
There's a great opportunity for clarity here! When personhood begins is an incredibly important question at the heart of the abortion debate. If we are correct that the unborn are persons, which we argue for in this video ( https://youtu.be/louYc-9cvE0 ), then that really affects how we think about abortion. We're not interested in forcing people to do things with their bodies like blood donation or bone marrow donation; that would clearly be a violation of people's bodily autonomy to force that. But we believe that bodily autonomy does have limits; minimally, we should never be allowed to kill innocent, vulnerable people. We don't argue that people should always have an obligation to help other people, but we do argue that people should minimally not be allowed to kill other people. If we're right that the unborn are people, so abortion is a lethal act of violence against people, that's a really important distinction here.
But if those who don't believe that the unborn are persons or even that they aren't persons until they exist outside the mother (with or without medical intervention) are right then you are violating their bodily autonomy. Our beliefs are colored by many things and it would be unfair and even unwise of me to assume that my beliefs are the only ones that matter. I would never want the government saying that I had to have an abortion or give a child up for adoption because I was unmarried or because I was a certain age. Because that is my choice to make. I have to live with the choices I make. If I make bad choices, that's on me. If I make good choices, that's also on me but what's a good choice for me might be a bad choice for you and vice versa.
We reduce both the need and desire for abortion through education, free birth control, better child care options, better healthcare options, better maternity leave options. What has yet to be effective is criminalizing abortion. So other than criminalizing abortion, what can you support?
That is true! If the unborn actually aren't persons, then abortion would have to be totally fine, and regulating it would be violating people's bodily autonomy. That's precisely why it is so important to figure out whether the unborn are persons or not! We argue that the unborn are persons in the video I linked to before. If our argument is correct, then that effects how the government should handle abortion. We all get to make choices and live with those choices, but the government can and should say that some choices aren't legitimate, okay choices to make. The government can and should say that raping someone, for example, isn't an okay choice to make. Rape isn't the kind of thing that is subjective; rape can't be a good choice for me and a bad choice for you - rape is clearly wrong because it's an act of violence against another person, and we should have laws against it. If our argument that the unborn are people is correct, then abortion is also an act of violence against another person. Killing another person isn't a legitimate option, except in weird cases like self-defense, so the government can and should say that killing isn't an option on the table.
I support tons of other measures that reduce abortions and provide support for pregnant and parenting people during and long after pregnancy. We need to have those support systems in place, and I don't think that the support systems we have in place right now are sufficient. I am 100% for making these systems better! But if abortion really is a lethal act of violence against an innocent person, then having an abortion shouldn't be a legal option.
Sorry but I dont read his post as an attack on all "pro-lifers"l." I definitely think he's targeting the type of group of people who chant "build the wall" and spew hateful rhetoric about mexicans while acting like theyre morally superior because they identify as Christian and want to ban abortion
ERI taking the gloves off is the equivalent to Canada bombing someone - it's one of those, "If THESE guys have had it with your crap, then you've crossed a line."
Excellent commentary. To borrow a term from the political left, I think Pastor Barnhart is more anti-anti-abortion than pro-abortion. That is to say, it's a lot easier to tear down the pro-life movement (particularly, a stupid caricature of the pro-life movement) than it is to make an affirmative case for abortion on demand and he takes advantage of this.
If the goal is saving lives why don’t you advocate for forced, regular blood donation or a mandate that would require every adult to register with the nation bone marrow registry?
We reduce both the need and desire for abortion through education, free birth control, better child care options, better healthcare options, better maternity leave options. What has yet to be effective is criminalizing abortion. So other than criminalizing abortion, what can you support?
I support tons of other measures that reduce abortions and provide support for pregnant and parenting people during and long after pregnancy. We need to have those support systems in place, and I don't think that the support systems we have in place right now are sufficient. I am 100% for making these systems better! But if abortion really is a lethal act of violence against an innocent person, then having an abortion shouldn't be a legal option.