About 10-15 years ago, I wrote a sci-fi book focused around some ethical conundrums. It is intended to raise a lot of important questions we need to deal with considering where technology is going, but is also intended to delve into the foundation of the abortion discussion. 

The SLED argument against abortion has been one of the greatest defenses of a child’s right to life. The simple line of reasoning goes a long way in most abortion discussions. The few arguments which the SLED argument can't handle tend to be arguments based on arbitrarily formed definitions of things like “personhood,” and/or basing arguments on degreed properties which lead to inconsistently applied conclusions. A simple reductio ad absurdum reduces most surviving arguments down to positions which either aren't tenable or consistent. ​For more on this, you can check out what I've written on the issue of abortion here. 

However, I have found one newer argument for abortion to be relatively compelling – the argument from bodily autonomy. The argument basically says that as it stands, if we were to prevent abortions, a corpse would then have more rights than women. A corpse may legally donate or withhold organs – even to those in need – whereas under anti-abortion laws, a mother would have no choice in the case but to contribute her organs to sustaining the life of another. We would be requiring her to give up her bodily autonomy for the sake of another. While this “heroism” may be lauded as a great sacrifice if it was a willingly pursued course of action, it is not something we can require of another. Bodily autonomy supersedes the needs of another. Whereas most other arguments have some apparent loopholes, this particular argument initially seemed unassailable to me. ​

*This is a very rough draft of a strange rebuttal I've developed against the Violinist Argument for abortion. I'm putting it out there not because I'm certain it's solid, but for honest critiques. If you would like to a more comprehensive and solid rationale for the intrinsic valuing of all human life, you can find that here. You can also find a more mainstream rebuttal for the Violinist Argument. Finally, if you want this content in podcast form, I did an episode on it here. 

The topic of abortion is fraught with emotional pitfalls on all sides, and understandably so. My goal is to broach this topic intellectually and make a case for the pro-life position without undermining reverence and respect for the humanity and value of those who have chosen abortion. My hope is that this case can help those on all sides to clearly see the crux of the issue and the tremendous implications it has for establishing and maintaining human rights. 

For a podcast series that goes through this material and also extends the conversation, visit my podcast page here. 


1. The Foundational Question: What is killed in abortion?
2. How to Determine Value and Rights: What quality and types of qualities confer rights and value to an individual?
3. Justified Reasons for Taking Human Life: What justifies the taking of human life?
4. Unjustified Reasons for Taking Life: What reasons fail to justify the taking of human life?
5. Bad Christian Arguments and Witness: Common pro-life/Christian arguments and actions which can undermine the pro-life position. 
6. Counterrebuttals: A response to significant objections to the pro-life arguments.
7. Conclusion: 
8. Resources: 

I had a conclusion written up, but decided to go with something I wrote about a year ago. I think it wraps everything up and explains more of my heart than a simple summary of arguments. You can watch the video and/or read the transcript below. 

The Drop Box (Video): This video exemplifies what I hope the church embodies in this debate. It is a challenge to me, and I pray that it would be an example for all of us to follow. It embodies love for innocent children, but also struggling and grieving mothers. It shows us what putting our pro-life view into action looks like.

Abortion: From Controversy to Civility (Video) - This is a good Youtube video that exemplifies the civility and compassion with which pro-life individuals should approach the topic of abortion. While I don't like some of the reasoning, it's a good overall video. 

An Honest Conversation About Abortion that Asks Us Not to Turn Away (Article): This is a wonderful article that sums up how I think Christians should think. It is pro-life, but the article mostly helps Christians to see the humanity of mothers who are placed in difficult circumstances. It asks us to empathize, love, and reach out to a world in need. 

Harvesting the Unborn (Article) - This is a high-level paper about stem cell research. Even though it doesn't directly discuss abortion, it makes a tremendous case for the humanity and value of the unborn.

Life Training Institute (Website) -  A good site with many resources. 

After-Birth Abortion (Article) - An article from New Zealand which discusses the merits of aborting children after they're born. This was published in a journal and is possibly the beginning of a real discussion on extending abortion to beyond birth. 

Abortion Description (Video)- A good description of abortion and testimony of a former abortion doctor. While it doesn't prove the immorality of abortion, I think it's a good piece to hear to frame what actually occurs.

Gosnell (Movie)- This is a movie about the real abortion doctor who was convicted of countless murders, both of babies and women. Gosnell's actions skirted the lines of legality and help to shed light on the hypocrisy of abortion practices. His actions helped bring many pro-choice individuals (jurors, journalists, etc) to the other side.



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1. The Foundational Question: What is killed in abortion?
2. How to Determine Value and Rights: What quality and types of qualities confer rights and value to an individual?
3. Justified Reasons for Taking Human Life: What justifies the taking of human life?
4. Unjustified Reasons for Taking Life: What reasons fail to justify the taking of human life?
5. Bad Christian Arguments and Witness: Common pro-life/Christian arguments and actions which can undermine the pro-life position. 
6. Counterrebuttals: A response to significant objections to the pro-life arguments.
7. Conclusion: 
8. Resources: 

I seek to add to this section as I receive push-back. 

1. The Violinist Argument (Bodily Autonomy): Women have a right to their own bodies. Even if the fetus is a human, other humans don't have the right to use a woman's body against her will and without her consent.

2. Who Would You Save (Pro-Life Inconsistency): Pro-life individuals would save a toddler over embryos, therefore the pro-life position proves that it doesn't believe what it argues.

3. Men Have No Skin in the Game (Patriarchal Bias): Since men don't have to carry children, their input is biased and focused on subjugating women. 

4. What About Ectopic Pregnancies?: Are Christians inconsistent for aborting in ectopic pregnancies? I provide Christian answers to both views on this. 


1. The Foundational Question: What is killed in abortion?
2. How to Determine Value and Rights: What quality and types of qualities confer rights and value to an individual?
3. Justified Reasons for Taking Human Life: What justifies the taking of human life?
4. Unjustified Reasons for Taking Life: What reasons fail to justify the taking of human life?
5. Bad Christian Arguments and Witness: Common pro-life/Christian arguments and actions which can undermine the pro-life position. 
6. Counterrebuttals: A response to significant objections to the pro-life arguments.
7. Conclusion: 
8. Resources: 

BAD ARGUMENTS - 

Images: Pro-lifers often use images of aborted babies to show that abortion kills human life. The thought is that if we show an aborted fetus that looks like a human, it makes our case. While I think images can make this topic more tangible, and while it can evoke an appropriate intuitive responses in us, I hate Facebook posts and memes that merely throw out this tactic because it has the potential to undermine the pro-life case. ​

We looked at two main reasons almost everyone will agree will justify taking another human's life. Now I want to look at reasons which do not justify taking a human life, but are sometimes used as justifications for abortion. 

It's Legal: If not readily apparent, the legality of something says nothing about its morality. If being legal made something moral, then activism and social justice would be immoral, because to fight against what is legal would mean to fight against something which is moral. We couldn't judge our slave owning ancestors for their immorality because they were living within the law. We couldn't judge the Japanese internment camps we had in the U.S., the child separation policy with illegal immigrants now, the genocides committed by various governments, etc. Governmental law is descriptive, not necessarily morally prescriptive. ​

So an embryo is a human life, and human life is valuable because it's human, not because it has attained some ability to a certain degree. Even if one agrees with this, most accept the idea that it is sometimes legitimate to take human life. While I have recently begun to align with the notion of pacifism and may disagree that taking life is ever appropriate, I understand that this position would be a minority position. Therefore, I want to address here what most would consider acceptable reasons for taking human life. ​