Thursday, September 08, 2005

If you can't trust me with a choice, how can you trust me with a child?



I think this is probably one of the more clever pro-choice bumper stickers out there. At a quick glance, it appeals to our idea of fairness and how much responsibility and trust a person should be given. Those who are trusted with important tasks should also be entrusted with "simple decisions." If we can't trust a person to make a "simple choice," then how could we ever entrust them to the immensely more important task of raising a child?

The bumper sticker displays one of main tactics of the pro-choice movement. Don't talk about what the choice actually is. Just emphasize that it is a "choice." The immense problem with this bumper sticker's message is when someone asks "what choice?"

Imagine a candidate for President of the United States running on the slogan, "If you can't trust me to run the country, how can you trust me with a child?" It doesn't really work, does it? Most of recognize the importance and skills need for parenting yet we also realize that being President of the United States entails a different set of skills.

Or imagine an advocate for bigamy with a bumper sticker saying, "If you can't trust me with a choice (to marry more than one person), how can you trust with a child." The pro-choice bumper sticker uses language to obscure the reality that some choices are wrong regardless of how much responsibility an individual might have.

This bumper sticker also fails miserably at the Toddler Test.

Imagine a mother holding her toddler and saying, "If you can't trust me with the choice (of whether or not I can legally kill this toddler), how can you trust me to raise this toddler?" Just because we trust parents with their children doesn't mean we entrust them with the right to decide whether to kill them or not.

The bumper sticker assumes that having an abortion is a choice that doesn't affect anyone else instead of doing anything to prove it.

Once the question "what choice" is asked, the real issue becomes obvious. The issue isn't "shouldn't I have a choice?" or "aren't I responsible enough to make a choice?" but "what is unborn?" If the unborn aren't living human beings, then yes, you should be able to choose. But if the unborn are living human beings then you shouldn't be granted the right to kill that human being anymore than a mother should be granted the right to kill her toddler.

7 comments:

  1. Very well articulated! I enjoyed the way you laid out your thoughts and I'm with you 100%. I don't know if you're a Christian or not, but if you are (or even if you aren't) feel free to check out my blog at www.4hisword.blogspot.com

    it's a theology and Christian concern page. God bless and well said!

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  2. Anonymous11:02 AM

    Yep. The pro-choice rhetoric works only within a very small box--to use their "logic" anywhere else would be laughable. Sadly, people have accepted it into their lives without question.

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  3. Hi Jamie,
    Thanks for stopping by. I am a Christian and I will check out your blog.

    Hi Nathan,
    Thanks for the comment but I don't know if I'm comfortable with someone who loves the smell of skunk hanging around.

    Just kiddding.

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  4. Anonymous12:47 PM

    No worries. As a pro-life democrat I'm used to being discriminated against by pro-lifers:P

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  5. Anonymous5:17 PM

    The word "them" in your first paragraph should be "her"...I'm not sure how many of you anti-abortion folks who can't even write proper English ought to be reproducing like rabbits...if this continues, our society is bound to sink into the abyss of stupidity...let's see if "the blog author" approves my comment (snicker).

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  6. Anonymous7:25 PM

    No offense, mister blog writer, but I don't see how YOU (or ANY man) should have any say over MY body. I certainly have no reign over any part of you.
    if this were a man's issue, this wouldn't even be discussed.
    against abortion? don't have one. let ladies make these personal, tough decisions for themselves. please and thank you.

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  7. Anonymous,
    Your argument assumes the unborn are part of your body when embryology proves otherwise.

    "against abortion? don't have one."

    Do you understand how many other actions you'd be opposed to would fit in this rather thoughtless argument?

    For example:

    "against spousal abuse. don't beat your wife."
    "against child abuse. don't beat your kid."
    "against drunk driving. don't drink and drive."

    You're again assuming what you need to prove in order for your argument to be relevant and persuasive.

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