E is for Environment

Following up on the acronym SLED (What To Say and How To Say It by Brandon Vogt.) where S is for Size.  L is for Level of development. E is for Environment. D is for Dependency.  

 

Environment: Here the pro-choice activist argues that a “fetus is not yet in the world.” Not so. While they may not be directly visible to us, the unborn are indeed in the world. Not only are they in the world at large, they are precisely where they are supposed to be.  The womb has no other innate purpose than providing a safe haven for the nourishment and development of this specific human being.  By definition the womb is the “organ in which the young are conceived and grow until birth.”

 

Thus, Environment is also is not a sufficient reason for denying the unborn their innate right to life.  This criterion is not unique as a person is a person whether in a house, an igloo, an incubator or a womb. 

In Christ, Ken.

L is for Level of Development

Following up on the acronym SLED (What To Say and How To Say It by Brandon Vogt.) where S is for Size.  L is for Level of development. E is for Environment. D is for Dependency.  

Level of Development: Here the pro-choice activist argues that a “fetus cannot think or feel pain.” One might then ask if born people with developmental disabilities are not human beings. Are born people who cannot think clearly or feel pain are not persons.  Then there is the scientific fact that human brains are not fully developed until around the age of 25.  Are we any less human beings until we reach that age?

Thus, Level of Development is not a reason to dismiss the unborn as not being persons.  This criterion is not unique and applies to many born people that we do not dismiss in this way. So we are still left asking the pro-choice advocate, why is a human being in the womb denied the right to life?

In Christ, Ken.

S is for Size

Following up on the acronym SLED (What To Say and How To Say It by Brandon Vogt.) where S is for Size.  L is for Level of development. E is for Environment. D is for Dependency.  

SIZE: “An embryo is just a clump of cells.”  Ask, “What distinguishes you from being more than a mere “clump of cells”? If size matters, is a toddler less of a person than a teen?  Are short people less human than tall persons?” You might also ask, “How big must an unborn child be before it can be considered human or a person with a right to life?” Trent Horn in Persuasive Pro-Life suggest this response “use the following simple test to show something is an organism and not a clump of cells:

If I can give this living thing time, nutrition, and a proper environment, and it is able to develop toward becoming a mature member of its species, then it is an organism and not a mere [clump of cells].”  Trent goes on to say “cells such as skin, sperm, and egg can never —even given time, nutrition, and a proper environment—develop into an adult human, they fail the organism test.116 When removed from the human body, they are clumps of cells, or tissue, that will quickly die.”

You can also have recourse to Dr. Seuss and the popular line - and major moral theme - from Horton Hears a Who!  "A person's a person, no matter how small.”

In Christ, Ken.

SLED and Abortion

Though the abortion rate in the US has been declining recently, the Guttmacher Institute (GI) still reports over 860,000 abortions in the US in 2017. GI also reported that in 2014 “17% of abortion patients identified as mainline Protestant, 13% as evangelical Protestant and 24% as Catholic…” Also according to GI one-third of all women in the US will have had at least one abortion by age 45. What are the reasons given for having an abortion?  According to GI, 74% say “having a baby will dramatically change my life.” And 73% also say “I can’t afford a baby right now.”  However, these reasons do not justify a parent killing a 2-month old baby (at least not currently), so why do they seemingly justify abortions?  What is different about a pre-born human being and a born human being such as an infant, or toddler, teenager, etc.?

Let’s consider the four main differences most often raised by pro-choice advocates.  A good way to remember them is using the acronym SLED (What To Say and How To Say It by Brandon Vogt.)  Picture an infant riding a sled.  S is for Size.  L is for Level of development. E is for Environment. D is for Dependency.  In the next articles, we will see how these differences are arbitrary and rather than reasons are merely rationale for discrimination against the unborn that do not withstand scrutiny.

In Christ, Ken.