But before I do that, let me start by saying this; I think that it is always important when discussing any contentious topic to first acknowledge the goodwill of the other person. After all, there are many women out there facing a tough and scary situation, and I honestly believe that many pro-choice advocates are just trying to help them out. We should try and show them that the means does not justify the end with charity and respect.
Ok, on to the links.
The first set has to do with how the different abortion procedures work, and what the end result looks like. I think it is really helpful to start here because it provides context to the debate that is based in reality. In depth discussions about abortion center often center around specific scientific details or abstract philosophical ideas, and it becomes very easy to forget what we are actually talking about.
Quotes from abortion providers on how abortion works
http://www.priestsforlife.org/isthiswhatyoumean/ isthiswhatyoumean.pdf (scroll down to read the quotes in red)
Video series demonstrating how the different type of abortions work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us_y9GP_-DA&feature= PlayList&p=1D719AEF8790CA52& index=0&playnext=1
Pictures of aborted babies organized by gestational age
http://www.priestsforlife.org/images/index.aspx#galleries
So thats a long list. But I think when you look at everything, it seems impossible to me to justify the means that pro-choice advocates take to reach their end. Women facing unplanned pregnancies do need our help, compassion, and not arrogant judgement. But we cannot kill innocent human beings in order to reach this end.
Quotes from abortion providers on how abortion works
http://www.priestsforlife.org/
Video series demonstrating how the different type of abortions work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Pictures of aborted babies organized by gestational age
http://www.priestsforlife.org/
The second set of links has to do with the central question of the abortion debate, what is the unborn? This is THE crux of the issue. If it is wrong to kill innocent human beings, and the unborn is not a living human being, then we should be free to perform abortions. If the unborn is a living human being, then abortion is wrong.
There is not much debate in the scientific community about when a new human life begins from what I have seen. The most informed and intellectually honest pro-choice advocates agree, life begins at fertilization (conception).
More quotes here, including one from Alan Guttmacher, the former President of Planned Parenthood.
Here is a paper that gets into the specifics of the the beginning of life, heavy reading, but well worth it.
The third set of links really gets into the philosophical debates that mostly revolve around the 'personhood' of the unborn. Pro-choice advocates who understand that abortion kills a living human being will often defend their view by saying that this living human isn't yet a 'person' because of a lack of mental or physical development, or its size or number of cells, or its location, or its dependancy of the mother. The first link is an informational website, the second two links point to podcasts that should be regular listening if you wish argue for the pro-life cause effectively.
http://lti-blog.blogspot.com (podcast)
http://lti-blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/lti-podcast-episode-3- serge.html (A great episode from the above podcast that addresses the bodily autonomy argument for abortion)
http://www.prolifepodcast.net (podcast)
Live Action Films has exposed several different Planned Parenthood employees in several different clinics in several different states covering up statutory rape and showing young girls how to circumvent parental notification laws.
The Silent No More Awareness Campaign gives a voice to those women who have had abortions and regretted it, and in some cases seen it ruin their lives. These videos are incredible.
So thats a long list. But I think when you look at everything, it seems impossible to me to justify the means that pro-choice advocates take to reach their end. Women facing unplanned pregnancies do need our help, compassion, and not arrogant judgement. But we cannot kill innocent human beings in order to reach this end.
