Life and Human Dignity

The Point: The Triage Trap

06/5/17

John Stonestreet

Don’t get lost in the weeds. For the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, I’m John Stonestreet with The Point.

While discussing abortion, have you ever heard an anecdotal argument like: “Well, if you had to choose between saving a high-schooler and an unborn fetus from a burning building, which would you pick?” The strategy is to get pro-lifers to admit that unborn children are less valuable than those who are born.

But don’t fall for it. This is a triage argument—it’s a problem of choosing whom to save when you can’t save both. But except in very rare cases, abortion is not triage. Almost always it’s a simple question of whether to intentionally kill a human being who’s considered inconvenient. If neither the life of the mother nor the unborn child is in danger, then stay out of the proverbial weeds. Only one question matters in this debate: What is the unborn?

If human, then the debate isn’t complicated at all. Intentionally killing them is always wrong. And don’t be a jerk about it. Be gracious. But don’t let the pro-choice side drag you off-track. This is one issue where we can’t afford to get stuck in the weeds.

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