The anniversary of Roe v Wade is upon us, and it often invites discussions with folks who disagree with prolifers on our view of abortion.
One particular argument presented by prochoicers is this: "God gave us all free will. If we make abortion illegal, aren't we interfering with a woman's free will?" As presented on this prochoice website:
"We have a clearer understanding that men and women are moral agents and equipped to make decisions about even the most difficult and complex matters. We must ensure a woman can determine when and whether to have children according to her own conscience and religious beliefs and without governmental interference or coercion."
Prolife Response: We are all free moral agents, but our right to self-determination does not involve being free to inflict harm on someone else. There are thousands of laws which, in some manner, bind us from utilizing our free will to inflict harm on another. If the prochoicer is being consistent, then she would have to oppose any laws which make domestic violence illegal as well. That is, making it illegal for a husband to harm his wife would remove the husband's right to act as his own moral agent in decisions about what goes on in the privacy of his home.
All we are doing by making abortion illegal is protecting a tiny human being from being killed. It's a matter of human rights, not human free will.
And that segues into another prochoice argument: "I'm not Catholic, so don't inflict your religious views about abortion on me".
Prolife Response: Abortion isn't a religious issue. It's a human rights issue. That the Catholic Church has a teaching on abortion doesn't make it a religious issue, any more than feeding the poor is a religious issue because the Catholic Church has a command to feed the hungry. I don't know many prochoicers who say that the government shouldn't be involved in federal assistance programs to feed children because they're not Catholic.
We can argue against stealing, lying, depravity, deception, etc etc etc without ever appealing to the Bible or to Catholic teaching.
Just like we can argue against abortion without ever once referencing religion.
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