1 00:00:00,300 --> 00:00:07,720 Let's talk about one of the most emotionally charged subjects there is -- abortion -- but 2 00:00:07,730 --> 00:00:14,970 in an unemotional way. Also, let's not touch on the question that most preoccupies discussion 3 00:00:14,970 --> 00:00:23,660 of the subject -- whether abortion should be legal or illegal. The only question here is the moral one: 4 00:00:23,660 --> 00:00:28,520 Is ending the life of a human fetus -- moral? 5 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:35,480 Let's begin with this question: Does the human fetus have any value and any rights? 6 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:41,720 Now, it's a scientific fact that a human fetus is human life. Those who argue that the human 7 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:49,820 fetus has no rights say that a fetus is not a person. But even if you believe that, 8 00:00:49,820 --> 00:00:56,200 it doesn't mean the fetus has no intrinsic value or no rights. There are many living beings 9 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:03,500 that are not persons that have both value and rights: Dogs and other animals, for example. 10 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:09,740 And that's Moral Argument Number One: A living being doesn't have to be a person 11 00:01:09,740 --> 00:01:14,560 in order to have intrinsic moral value and rights. 12 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:20,840 When challenged with this argument, people usually change the subject to the rights of the mother 13 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:26,060 -- meaning the right of a mother to end her fetus's life under any circumstance, 14 00:01:26,060 --> 00:01:35,020 for any reason, and at any time in her pregnancy. Is that moral? It is only if we believe that 15 00:01:35,020 --> 00:01:42,630 the human fetus has no intrinsic worth. But in most cases, nearly everyone believes that 16 00:01:42,630 --> 00:01:50,100 the human fetus has essentially infinite worth and an almost absolute right to live. When? 17 00:01:50,100 --> 00:01:55,080 When a pregnant woman wants to give birth. Then, society -- and its laws -- regard the 18 00:01:55,080 --> 00:02:03,300 fetus as so valuable that if someone were to kill that fetus, that person could be prosecuted for homicide. 19 00:02:03,300 --> 00:02:10,800 Only if a pregnant woman doesn't want to give birth, do many people regard the fetus as worthless. 20 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,040 Now, does that make sense? 21 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:18,580 It doesn't seem to. Either a human fetus has worth or it doesn't. 22 00:02:18,580 --> 00:02:22,620 And this is Moral Argument Number Two: 23 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:28,580 On what moral grounds does the mother alone decide a fetus's worth? 24 00:02:28,580 --> 00:02:36,860 We certainly don't do that with regard to a newborn child. It is society, not the mother -- or the father -- 25 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:42,280 that determines whether a newborn child has worth and a right to live. 26 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:48,660 So, the question is: Why should that be different before the human being is born? Why does one person, 27 00:02:48,660 --> 00:02:55,220 a mother, get to determine whether that being has any right to live? People respond 28 00:02:55,220 --> 00:03:01,360 by saying that a woman has the right to "control her body." Now, that is entirely correct. 29 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:07,860 The problem here, however, is that the fetus is not "her body;" it is in her body. 30 00:03:07,860 --> 00:03:15,220 It is a separate body. And that's Moral Argument Number Three. No one ever asks a pregnant woman, 31 00:03:15,220 --> 00:03:22,440 "How's your body?" when asking about the fetus. People ask, "How's the baby?" 32 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:29,420 Moral Argument Number Four: Virtually everyone agrees that the moment the baby comes out 33 00:03:29,420 --> 00:03:36,480 of the womb, killing the baby is murder. But deliberately killing it a few months before 34 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:43,360 birth is considered no more morally problematic than extracting a tooth. 35 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,140 How does that make sense? 36 00:03:46,140 --> 00:03:53,339 And finally, Moral Argument Number Five: Aren't there instances in which just about everyone 37 00:03:53,339 --> 00:04:00,119 -- even among those who are pro-choice -- would acknowledge that an abortion might not be moral? 38 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:05,939 For example, would it be moral to abort a female fetus solely because the mother prefers 39 00:04:05,939 --> 00:04:12,399 boys to girls -- as has happened millions of times in China and elsewhere? 40 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:18,140 And one more example: Let's say science develops a method of determining whether a child in the womb 41 00:04:18,140 --> 00:04:26,580 is gay or straight. Would it be moral to kill a gay fetus because the mother didn't want a gay child? 42 00:04:26,580 --> 00:04:32,640 People may offer practical reasons not to criminalize all abortions. People may differ 43 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:40,200 about when personhood begins; and about the morality of abortion after rape or incest. 44 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:48,080 But with regard to the vast majority of abortions -- those of healthy women aborting a healthy fetus -- 45 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:54,120 let's be clear. Most of these abortions just aren't moral. 46 00:04:54,120 --> 00:05:02,040 Good societies can survive people doing immoral things. But a good society cannot survive 47 00:05:02,050 --> 00:05:07,110 if it calls immoral things moral. 48 00:05:07,110 --> 00:05:09,410 I'm Dennis Prager.