conuly

If I take the s48 bus to the Pathmark, I pass a large anti-abortion center with two very large signs on it:

"Abortion stops a beating heart" and "The NATURAL choice is life!"

Ahem.

1. Abortion stops a beating heart. Yeah, I guess it does. Well, I don't really know because I haven't done the exhaustive research I am sure everyone in your center has (warning for the sarcasm-impaired... that was it), but I still don't think it matters. I'm not a vegetarian. Somehow, I suspect that many of the people who think that's a wonderful argument chow down on the meat just as much as I do. Possibly more so. And meat, wow, that stops a beating heart, it also stops brain functions, which is not something you can say for most abortions. And that's really the big part of my criteria, to avoid hypocrisy. Brain activity. Whatever it is, it has to be somewhat capable of thought.

2. The NATURAL choice is life. Sure is! The natural choice also is death. Death? Yes, if you eschew antibiotics, transfusions, organ donations, most medicines... oh wait, I guess many medicines CAN be made from plants, so if you take those, you're fine. But... some plants are natural abortificants. Hm. Maybe sometimes the natural choice IS an abortion! And death. It's definitely death. Oh, for all those unaborted babies? The natural choice is breastmilk. Definitely. If you're going on about the natural choice, I'd better not see you feed your kids formula. Cause, you know, hypocrisy kinda sucks.

Now, I'll be fair, I think there are a number of perfectly good reasons to PRIVATELY believe abortion is wrong, and a few to justify PUBLICLY campaigning against it. But those two aren't it, and they make your entire movement look stupid. Plus, they're unnecessarily emotive. If your argument were a good one, you wouldn't have to cheap tricks like that.

(edit) Yes, I realize that all animals are capable of thought, by "thought" I meant "higher thought, somewhat similar to how humans think". And yes, I like to pretend that animals I don't know don't go near that, it keeps me sane.