Video #6

Roundtable Discussion

Video Notes

Clear thinking on abortion begins by asking the right questions:

What is the pro-life argument?

  • The pro-life argument can be formally stated as a syllogism.

P1: It is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being
P2: Abortion intentionally kills an innocent human being.
Therefore,
C: Abortion is wrong.

  • Arguments must be refuted, not dismissed with faulty appeals to gender, origins, religion, or motivations.

What do we mean by “wrong?”

  • To say something is wrong is to make an objective claim, not a subjective one.
  • Changing the pro-life argument from an objective claim to a subjective one does not refute it, only dodges it.

What is abortion?

  • Abortion is the intentional killing of an innocent human being.
  • This definition is affirmed by many defenders of abortion, including some who perform the procedure.

What is the abortion debate about?

  • It’s not about love, hate, lost benefits, neutrality, or middle ground.
  • It’s about one question: Who counts as one of us (and, by extension, what makes humans valuable in the first place)? That’s the crux of the debate.

What are bad ways to argue?

  • Dismiss rather than argue
  • Assume rather than argue
  • Attack rather than argue
  • Assert rather than argue

Again, arguments must be defended with evidence and reason, not appeals to one’s gender, origins, religion, or motivations.

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