DAY 88
CHALLENGE
“Abortion is justified in some cases. It may not be a good time for a mother to have a baby. She may be young, still in school, poor, or unmarried. She may have as many children as she can care for, or the child could be a product of rape or incest.”
DEFENSE
These represent good reasons not to have a baby, but they are not good reasons to kill a baby.
Suppose the child were already born. Would any of these reasons be a legitimate reason for the mother to kill her child? A mother cannot kill her newborn because she is young, in school, or unmarried. Neither can she do so because she is poor or has other children. If these are not adequate reasons for a mother to kill her child after birth, then they are not adequate reasons for her to kill her child before birth. They are just rationalizations.
Instead, mothers in difficult situations must be helped. They must receive the care and assistance they need as they carry the child to term, as well as after the birth, whether they choose to raise the child or pursue adoption.
Similarly, the fact that a person was conceived by an act of rape or incest would not justify killing him after birth, and so it does not justify killing him before birth, either. Rape and incest are horrible crimes. Those who commit them must be brought to justice, and their victims must receive compassion and care. But adding a new victim through a new act of violence does not make things better. It makes them worse.
Even when conceived by an act of rape or incest, unborn children are innocent human beings. It is immoral to kill them because of crimes committed by one or both of their parents. Killing people be- cause of what their ancestors did, even their most immediate ancestors, is barbaric.
The circumstances in which these children were conceived make their situations very sensitive, but killing them does not help either them or their mothers, who need compassionate care and support.
TIP
This defense offers a useful, general test for justifications of abortion. If someone proposes a reason to have an abortion, ask if that reason would justify killing a child after birth. If not, it does not justify killing a child before birth.