One of the signature moves of the pro-choice apologist is to align the choice to have an abortion with women’s rights. So then if somebody is campaigning upon the basis of women’s rights, we expect that they are in favor of abortion. If a politician make the bare statement, “my opponent is opposed to women’s rights,” we have the expectation that the opponent is opposed to the practice and the right to abortion. However, if I were to suggest an alternative, I would say that the philosophy of abortion devastates women’s rights. The freedom of abortion undercuts the foundation on which women’s rights rests. That is how abortion destroys women’s rights.
This issue has become so intertwined with women’s rights that many make the startling claim that a man ought not to speak on the issue of abortion. Since it is an issue of women’s rights, then only women can speak on the issue of abortion. If that were the case, then that very premise would undercut Roe Vs Wade, in which the decision was made by men. Further, it seems sort of like saying a white man cannot speak against racism. Finally, no matter where the argument comes from, the reasoning still needs to be assessed univocally. One cannot say that just because I am a man, that therefore my reasoning is invalid. So then, how abortion destroys women’s rights: let’s get into it.
Human beings have intrinsic moral value. When I say intrinsic moral value, I mean that in and of themselves, human beings have value. This is to be contrasted against extrinsic value, which is to say that under certain conditions, human beings are valuable. Cash has extrinsic value, but not intrinsic value. In and of itself, it is just paper. If I find a suitcase full of cash, then it will be valuable to me. But if I brought that suitcase to a tribe in the Brazilian rainforest, they would thank me for bringing them some paper to build their fire. It is just paper. Its’ value is extrinsic.
But we all recognize that the value that human beings have is different. If I were to run over a squirrel, and keep driving, nobody would be offended. But if I ran over a human being, and kept driving, I would go to prison and all would be morally appalled at my actions. If Adolph Hitler killed a few thousand pigeons, he would be esteemed as a master hunter. But since he killed a few thousand human beings, he is guilty of genocide. As Doctor Bill Craig pointed out, if a lion kills a zebra, it kills it, but it does not murder it. Animals are intrinsically different than human beings. That is why soldiers will routinely from war with PTSD, but scarcely a man from hunting deer. The intrinsic value of human beings is something that we all recognize. How abortion destroys women’s rights? Work with me. I am building a case, so pay attention.
Women’s rights depend upon intrinsic moral value. In nature, whatever is, is right. There is no right. If a mother cat kills its’ young, we do not object that she did not have the right to do that. It is just part of nature. It is what happens. For us to speak of human rights is to speak absurdly. They are just useful fictions. In the words of Michael Ruse, “I appreciate that when someone says, ‘love thy neighbor as thyself,’ they think they are referring above and beyond themselves. Nevertheless, such references are truly without foundation. Ethics are an aid to survival and reproduction. But any deeper meaning is illusory.”
So when we say that women have rights, what are we really saying? What does it even mean? As humans, we never make the comparison between the animal kingdom and the kingdom of mankind. Natural selection dictates that the male is the dominate member of the species. What right do women have to resist that, anymore than a female goat, a sheep, or a chicken, have the right to resist that? In the absence of intrinsic human value, women do not have any rights, anymore than a pack of kittens has a right, anymore than a goat has a right. Nature is what is right, and nobody can stand in the face of nature and offer correction.
Nonetheless, we all assume this idea of human rights, and it comes solely from a philosophy of theism. Human beings are made in the image of God. Hence, they have intrinsic moral value. We believe in women’s rights because we believe that women have intrinsic moral value. In and of themselves, women are valuable. They are to be loved and adored. They are not to be treated as subjects or slaves of their male partner. They are human beings and as such, they have intrinsic moral value. I believe that as firmly as I believe anything else.
Abortion undercuts intrinsic moral value. We should pose the question of what a woman is doing when she gets an abortion. She is terminating her pregnancy. She is ending the life of the fetus inside of her. However, extensive embryological research of the last few decades has revealed that the fetus is human. A fetus is a human being in the earliest stages of development. It is quite curious to say that a human being is not really a human being just because they are underdeveloped. (Take care, by that reasoning, the next person who is more developed than you, has the right to kill you.)
78% of women who see their ultrasound will reject an abortion. That is because upon seeing the actual image, it is very difficult to maintain that the fetus is not actually human. The other day I watched a very disturbing video of post-abortion procedure. The doctors were handling the severed arms and legs, wrapping them up. They wrapped up a bloody fetus the size of my hand and was identical to a baby. Any honest interpretation of the ultrasound leads one to believe that the fetus is human.
I am surprised to report that at this juncture, the abortionist will agree that the fetus is human. They concede that point. But what they will do is say that because the human fetus is inside of their body, that therefore, they have the right to terminate the pregnancy. It is still their own personal choice because the fetus is dependent upon them.
But wait a moment… is that intrinsic moral value? Intrinsic moral value is the view that in and of themselves, human beings have value. Extrinsic value means that under some conditions, human beings have value. What the abortionist has done is said that under this particular condition, human beings do not have value. But that is extrinsic value. That is not intrinsic moral value. That is how abortion destroys women’s rights.
How abortion destroys women’s rights: Women’s rights are contingent upon intrinsic moral value. If there were no intrinsic moral value in human beings, then there would be no reason to grant a point to women’s rights any more than we do to female goats, sheep, or chickens. Women’s rights presuppose intrinsic human value. It relies upon it. But abortionist philosophy states that under certain conditions, it is acceptable to kill a human beings. That defies intrinsic human value, and necessarily, it defies women’s rights. It defies the right to choose anything. That is how abortion destroy’s women’s rights. Abortion defies intrinsic human value. It cuts its’ own throat.
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