One of my co-workers (a Mormon, no less) just discovered the existence of Peter Singer.
You may remember Mr Singer. He's the Princeton "Bioethicist" who argues that abortion should be legal due to sentience and thus, infanticide should also be legal. You have to appreciate the chutzpah of people like Singer. At least they're honest that they think certain people have no right to live, and they're perfectly happy to choose which of us fall into that category.
I'll return to that later.
This article is about how you argue with those who want to ensure that abortion remains "safe, legal, and rare." And by that, they mean, "available at any time, for any reason."
Get them to agree with a central premise, that life begins at conception. Leftists like to think of themselves as "science" followers, so throw a little science at them. Ask them, in the last 40 years, in which direction has science been moving with respect to "life." I've got news for them, it's all towards conception, not the other way. Eventually, these crazy scientists are going to be able to completely shepherd a baby from conception to "birth" outside the womb. What are you going to argue as the beginning of that process then? Get them to agree to that and all you're arguing about is timing. You'll ultimately win that argument.
Most abortionists, even if they agree with the conception arguments are going to dismiss it as immaterial to the debate. We call these people Godless, but, for fun, how do you debate those who have already crossed this Rubicon?
Leftists like to think they're superior to us because they're for Affirmative Action and standing up for minorities. So, appeal to their better instincts. Remind them that the initial proponents of abortion were eugenicists like Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, who saw abortion as a way to cleanse society of the less desirable among us. People Sanger felt were inferior, like Blacks and other ethnic minorities. It's people like Sanger who eventually morphed into Nazi's. Ask your Leftist protagonist how it feels to run in that company?
Are they still standing?
Liberals hate evil corporations, right? Their entire lives are devoted to protecting the little guy from the ravages of capitalism. Give them a little education in the abortion industry. This is a multi-billion dollar industry, protected by lobbyists and industry groups just like any other big business. Furthermore, this industry is pushing to retain a system that promotes a completely unnatural act, all to line the pockets of big corporations and evil rich doctors who participate in this industry. Do these people really care about that patient or do they only care about the paycheck? Ask your. Liberal friend. Should our tax dollars be subsidizing this industry? Isn't this just more Corporate Welfare dressed up as something else?
The next time you see some Planned Parenthood talking head wailing about protecting a woman's "right" to choose, remember that this person is a lobbyist for a big business who stands to lose millions of dollars each year if this industry fades away.
My favorite argument with these nitwits is the "control" of a woman's body issue. The caricature of the conservative is of some madman standing in your bedroom telling you what you can and can't do in there. That's exactly what it is, a caricature. They like to paint us as interested in preventing women from making this life changing choice because of male patriarchy or some crazy religious devotion. Guilty on the latter. Own it.
Remind these people that their side is all about control of your body. They want to tell you how much soda you can drink, how many trans fats you can eat, how much nicotine you can smoke, what additives go into your food, what radiation makes your food tastier and safer, what preservatives make your food last longer, what temperature your steak can be cooked to at your favorite steakhouse (for those who would allow you to consume red meat at all), and which drugs you are allowed to get high on. They've taken control of the health care system now, I can't wait to see what else they're going to say we can and can't do to ourselves. The ONLY thing they don't want to regulate and control is a woman's womb. Pretty much every other body part is in play for them. But, DONT TOUCH MY VAGINA!
Let's face it, you're largely debating idiots here. Few of them will have the cojones to take the Singer position and admit that they believe certain people (as Randy Newman reminds us in "Short People") "got no reason to live."
At least with those, you can simply say they have a different moral compass, and while they'll rot in Hell for it, you can respect them on Earth.
