About outlawing abortions

APOLOGIA

By Hendrik van der Breggen

The Carillon, November 24, 2016

About outlawing abortions

Canadian law says the unborn child isn't a human being until it's born, so unborn children do not have the right to life and legally can be aborted up to birth.

But contemporary science tells us the unborn child is, in reality, a human being. So what if abortion were outlawed to reflect that reality (but legal in rare cases required medically to save the life of the mother)? What questions could we anticipate?

Consider these two questions, plus replies.

Question 1: Won't legal restriction on abortion increase coat hanger abortions?

(“Coat hanger” abortions are those horrible situations wherein desperate women perform self-induced abortions, abortions in which the women perpetrating the abortion via coat hanger or some other dangerous instrument risk serious personal injury and even death.)

Reply: Yes, reduced access to hospital or clinic abortions might increase the incidence of coat hanger abortions.

But we must ask: Does killing an innocent human being with a weapon that might seriously injure or kill the killer justify the killing of that innocent human being (and other innocent human beings) with the more precise (safe) killing instruments found in a hospital or clinic?

Answer: No.

To be sure, the situation of a desperate woman giving herself an abortion with a coat hanger is horrific—and in need of life-enhancing solutions for both mother and child. Nevertheless, we must remember that balking at reducing access to abortion for fear of increasing coat hanger abortions is to suggest legitimacy to the notion that, say, desperate axe-murderers are justified in their killing of innocents when they use safe, splinter-free axe handles.

Question 2: Won't outlawed abortions promote back alley abortions?

(“Back alley” abortions are those abortions performed illegally by qualified or unqualified abortionists in a less than sanitary environment.)

Reply: Yes, the outlawing of abortion might increase the incidence of back alley abortions.

But we must ask: Does the killing of an innocent human being by a possibly amateur killer in an unsanitary environment justify the killing of that innocent human being (and other innocent human beings) by expert killers in a sanitary environment?

Answer: Again, no.

To be sure, the situation of a desperate woman seeking a back alley abortion is terrible—and in need of a life-enhancing solutions for both mother and child. Nevertheless, we must remember that balking at outlawing abortion for fear of promoting back alley abortions suggests legitimacy to the notion that, say, we should legalize murder to reduce the incidence of unsanitary back alley murders done by nonprofessional hitmen.

Additional replies: Ethicist Charles Camosy, in his 2015 book Beyond the Abortion Wars: A Way Forward for a New Generation, argues that the criminalization of abortion in general need not lead to increased deaths of women due to illegal abortions. Why not? Because, legal or not, abortion has become a relatively safe procedure due to advances in medical technology.

Camosy also points out that high estimates of illegal coat hanger/ back alley abortions of the past (which were used to justify legalizing abortion) were fabricated. How does Camosy know this? It was admitted by ex-abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson, co-founder of the pro-choice organization National Abortion Rights and Action League.

Finally, consider the following quote from Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood abortion clinic director (and Planned Parenthood 2008 “Employee of the Year”), now pro-life activist:

Rape is illegal... yet people still rape others.

Drinking and driving is illegal... yet people still drink and drive.

Using heroin is illegal... but people still use heroin.

So should we make these things legal just because some people are “going to do it anyway?” Of course not.

So when abortion becomes illegal, and there are a few women who self abort, that doesn't mean that we should keep it legal for that reason.

Legality does not equal morality.

(Hendrik van der Breggen, PhD, is associate professor of philosophy at Providence University College.)

Note to critics: Please read my other articles on abortion before offering your criticism. Thanks.