Abortion: A "Right" or a "Wrong?"

     I recently had a fascinating conversation with a young man on Facebook regarding the topic of abortion.  Our conversation basically started out with me stating that life within the womb was sacred, and he responded by stating that the developing fetus in the womb was a “jumble of cells,” therefore giving the women the right to choose abortion. 

     I had to admit that if he is right and the developing fetus was just a “jumble of cells” then the woman probably did have the right to eliminate them from her body.  I then asked a clarifying question, “So in your opinion when do these ‘jumble of cells’ become a human being?”  He responded with “A jumble of cells can become a human if the person chooses to carry those cells to the point at which they are an autonomous being and no longer a parasite.”

     I was intrigued and by this statement, because I still wanted to know at what point a fetus goes from being a “parasite” and becomes an "autonomous being."  In my opinion this is a foundational question to be answered in the abortion debate, “Is the developing fetus a human being?”  And if the developing fetus is a human being when does it become human? 

     To quote William Lane Craig, “There is no nonarbitrary point in the process before which you can say the fetus is not human but after which he or she is.  The fact is that any human attempt to draw a line and say ‘not human before this point, but human afterwards’ is wholly arbitrary and without biological foundation.” 

     Answering the question of “Is the developing fetus a human being?” will lead us to the underlying question of “Do human beings possess intrinsic moral value?”  This second question is foundational to the issue of abortion as well.

     In another discussion with the aforementioned young man regarding abortion, I asked “In your opinion is abortion a good thing or a bad thing?”  He said, “Abortion is good because it provides an option to people if they are in a situation where they cannot have, afford to have, had no choice, do not want, and/or had not planned to have a child.”

     I then asked “Would you like to see more or less abortions performed in America?”  He said “I, personally, would like to see less performed.” 

     This is the point I think that most of us would agree upon, “Less Abortions.” 

     I finally ended our discussion with this statement, “I am for less abortions because I am morally opposed to it. I believe that unborn babies are human beings and deserve to be given the chance at life. I don't want less abortions because I hate women but actually because I care about them and I believe that abortions have many negative consequences on the mothers. I'm not talking about making abortion illegal but making it less common. I'm for sex education but would like for abstinence to be discussed. I'm for adoption. I'm for churches and non-profits helping young ladies who are pregnant and wrestling with the decision of abortion with love and respect.”