On the "it depends" distinction, the distinction is on which TRIMESTER the abortion is in. For first trimester, abortion is always legal, second trimester mostly legal, third trimester mostly illegal. So if someone does choose "it depends", they are still essentially saying yes. In fact if you want to get your more "nuance", just remove the "yes" answer, and have the choice between "it depends" and no.
"It depends" isn't the same as "yes". Someone could answer "it depends" if they support abortion on demand in most circumstances, but draw the line at sex-selective abortion. Such an individual would generally be considered pro-choice (though a "yes" person, like Hillary Clinton, would also support sex-selective abortion remaining legal). Someone could also answer "it depends" if they support making elective abortions illegal (but leaving in an exception for life of the mother). Such an individual would generally be considered pro-life. Clearly there's a wide difference there.
How do you deal with the topic of rape sensitively, and tell someone the unborn person is human and has a right to live yet the pregnant person's needs seriously matter? Also, is it any different from Gisella Perl and the African slaves who tried to abort their offspring to prevent them from being slaves/didn't want to carry a slaver's child/any other motivation? If so, how? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisella_Perl (in case you need to know about her more) I ask because of this comment I received recently. My friend respects me greatly and I want to communicate that I care about the rape baby AND the woman involved. What should I say and how should I say it? Here's the comment, in context: https://disqus.com/home/discussion/secularprolifeblog/secular_pro_life_perspectives_39_years_over_a_million_medicaid_kids_saved/#comment-2292623462
Great question. It's a topic that I've been consistently frustrated when seeing the way some pro-life people respond, who don't take as much care as they should in how they talk about the survivor of rape. I think the thoughts I gave in this speech would be helpful. The link will cause the video to start at the right place: https://youtu.be/1bDJqlRKcwA?t=38m24s
Thank you for the video; I will know how to handle that question better now. However, I have another one that ties into it. Is the rape victim any different from Gisella Perl aborting babies to save Jewish mothers, or the African slaves aborting babies to save them from slavery/because they did not want to carry their rapists' babies/etc? Or is she exactly the same? That was part of the question my friend asked me, and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts on that.
Interesting analysis, Josh, and thanks for sharing. I didn't realize this experiment was taking place back then when we did the outreach at CSUB. But it does make sense!
At this point it's pretty unusual for us to do an outreach without running at least one experiment. A college campus is our laboratory where we get to try out new tools and arguments.
So if someone does choose "it depends", they are still essentially saying yes. In fact if you want to get your more "nuance", just remove the "yes" answer, and have the choice between "it depends" and no.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gisella_Perl (in case you need to know about her more)
I ask because of this comment I received recently. My friend respects me greatly and I want to communicate that I care about the rape baby AND the woman involved. What should I say and how should I say it?
Here's the comment, in context:
https://disqus.com/home/discussion/secularprolifeblog/secular_pro_life_perspectives_39_years_over_a_million_medicaid_kids_saved/#comment-2292623462
However, I have another one that ties into it.
Is the rape victim any different from Gisella Perl aborting babies to save Jewish mothers, or the African slaves aborting babies to save them from slavery/because they did not want to carry their rapists' babies/etc? Or is she exactly the same?
That was part of the question my friend asked me, and I'd really appreciate hearing your thoughts on that.