If abortion were murder then society as a whole would treat it as such with comparable penalties. But when we look at abortion throughout history, even including the modern Christian right, we don’t see any group asking for the death penalty for the mother who aborts/kills her unborn child. Why is this?
The only possible explanation for not treating abortion as murder is that an unborn child has less moral/ethical value than a child who has already been born. This is the necessary (but almost always unspoken) assumption underlying any and all pro abortion arguments and/or for the failure to call for the death penalty as it’s punishment.
Anyone who supports abortion for any reason, under any circumstance, or fails to call for the death penalty does so based on the perceived lesser value of the unborn child. If abortion is allowed up till 6 (or 15) weeks, its because that unborn child has less value than a child older than 6 (or 15) weeks. If abortion is permitted in the case of rape or incest, it’s based on the calculation that the unborn child has less value than the mother’s inconvenience of giving birth to that child in that situation. If an abortion is permitted to save the life of the mother, it’s based on the superior value of the mother vs the lesser value of the unborn child.
Most abortions are elective and are based on the mother’s calculation of the value her future life without the child vs the value of her unborn child. If she values the child more, she will give birth and raise the child. If she values the child less, she will elect to have an abortion.
This assumption is consistent with all the following positions:
- Life begins at conception.
- An unborn child has moral/ethical value.
- An unborn child is a person.
It’s just that a young unborn child has less value, depending on it’s age and the situation. The pro life crowd draws the equal value line closer to conception with fewer exceptions where as the pro choice community draws the line closer to birth with more exceptions.
But any and all pro life or pro choice arguments that supports abortion under any circumstance or that fail to call for the death penalty do so based upon the perceived lesser value of an unborn child.