Justifiable Homicide?

There has been much in the news lately surrounding the issue of abortion, from articles on the effectiveness of the "morning-after pill" and the US Surgeon General's views to skepticism of what may or may not be included in the upcoming health care reform bill. I have thought about this issue for a long time, and struggled with many aspects of the issue. Abortion is an emotionally charged topic that has been debated at the highest levels of government for years. Even the mention of the topic provokes vehement debate and the Roe v. Wade decision is as polarizing as any that i've ever heard discussed. Perhaps this is so because something is being killed. Regardless of what position people take, each side can grant at least that starting premise because if nothing were alive and growing there wouldn't be a debate.

Each of us has different backgrounds, fundamental worldviews, experiences and biases that shape how we see any given topic under consideration. Those biases bring out different views on different topics. I will be open and honest and pre-set for everyone my biases: I am a 34 year old white male from a middle class family. I am a Christian (which is to say a disciple of Jesus Christ) who believes in the Bible as the Word of God, the existence of a triune God (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit), and the necessity of belief in Jesus Christ as personal Savior as an exclusive requirement for salvation. I am also a husband of nine years, a father of four and an advocate of the pro-life position. I wanted to get that out in the open to begin with because in the remainder of this article I will not again invoke God, the Bible, Jesus Christ, my ethnicity or my family. Anyone’s experience, point of view or bias is only valid and meaningful if it corresponds to the truth. Abortion has to do with one question, and one question alone: what is the unborn?

The principle of biogenesis says that life only comes from pre-existing life, and that everything reproduces after its own kind, i.e. dogs produce dogs, cats produce cats and elephants produce elephants. Therefore, if we want to know what something is all we have to do is determine what its parents are. Using this principle we can determine that a 2-year old child is a human being because its parents are human beings. Killing an innocent child is not an acceptable practice either morally or legally because it is a human being, so the pertinent question would be, is there any difference between a 2-year old and a human fetus? I believe there are only four differences between the two: size, location, environment and degree of development. None of these four differences represent a different level or degree of humanity; i.e. there is no difference of personhood between a 2-year old child and a human fetus, they are both unique individual human persons.

A human fetus is much smaller in size that a 2-year old but that does not mean the 2-year old is more human. I may be 6'-4" tall but certainly no more human than my wife who is nearly a foot shorter, so size is not a measure of humanity. Location is also not a measure of humanity. I spend about half my typical day at home and the other half at work. I am not more human at work than at home or vice versa. A triathlon was held recently at Lake Cammack where people spent about 20 minutes in the water and about another 60 minutes on land. None of those competitors were any less human when they were in the water, so environment does not dictate a degree of humanity. Finally, level of development cannot be a legitimate tool to show a different level of humanity. Would we suggest that those who suffer with Downs Syndrome, ALS, Parkinson's or Alzheimer’s are less human than any of the rest of us? Certainly not, in fact we struggle constantly with raising awareness so people will see those so afflicted as fully human persons.

What is the unborn? If that thing growing in the mother's womb is not an individual human being, then kill it and remove it, whether it is for a good reason or not, no justification is needed. If, however, the human fetus is an individual human person differing from a 2-year old child only in size, shape, environment and degree of development then there is absolutely no reason that anyone could give (outside of an immediate fatal condition to the mother such as a tubal or ectopic pregnancy) that would warrant killing that innocent person. A woman would have no more right choosing to kill a fetus than she would in choosing to kill a 2-year old. As horrific and deplorable an act as rape or incest, which is devastating to the woman who is violated in that way and deserves punishment of the perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law, still would not be sufficient grounds for the subsequent violation of the life of another innocent human being.
These are unbelievably difficult issues that go straight to the heart. Therefore they deserve serious consideration and a sometimes painful look at what is right. The truth is that our ethnicity, background, life experience, gender, level of education or any other influence on our lives is outside the central question that remains for us all to consider seriously: What is the unborn?