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Disclaimer: The opinions stated in this piece are not necessarily the opinions of Maryland Students for Life. We provide this article as an educational aid for pro-life interests but do not imply official endorsement of the author's views. For more information on our stances, see the About Us page.

Nov 17, 2004 - The Diamondback opinion page
Cornelius Griggs
Abortion illogic

I was disappointed but not surprised by the lack of
rationality in Julie Snyder's guest column yesterday,
"Abortion is not a form of genocide." While most of the column
avoided statements supported by evidence, the few that were
there made little sense. The crux of her column - abortion is
not genocide because fetuses and unborn children are not human
- lacks valid support.

In one of her first arguments, she states, "Scientists,
philosophers, theologians and medical professionals have
debated the question of the beginning of life for centuries,"
and since there has been much debate, there cannot be an
answer to the question, "What is the unborn?" However, you
cannot logically assert that just because an issue lacks
consensus, there is no correct answer. Rather, only some
answers are correct. This thinking is akin to saying because
two motorists cannot agree whose sports car is faster, neither
car is faster.

However, the factual inconsistencies are more disappointing
than the logical fallacies. Snyder asserts falsehoods as truth
when she states, "There is no government-enforced program for
abortion." China's family planning policy, however, requires
each family to have only one child. If a couple's birth
control method fails after the first child is born, then the
mother must have an abortion, or the government will take
three years' wages from both parents. Clearly the ultimatum of
choosing between an abortion or garnished wages qualifies as
coercion.

Snyder further deceives any uninformed readers by stating the
pictures used on Hornbake Mall as part of the Genocide
Awareness Project are deceptive since most abortions are
performed in the first trimester, and those performed
afterwards are rare and only used in special circumstances.
However, many of the signs include pictures of 10- and
11-week-old aborted fetuses, which for the mathematically
challenged is during the first trimester. In addition, Doe v.
Bolton legalized abortion after the second trimester for
nearly any reason. Snyder presented no valid evidence that
abortion pictures lack truthfulness.

Snyder states those sponsoring the display have no facts, an
assertion which can be easily disproved by visiting
Abortionno.org or reading the rest of this column.

Pro-life supporters can support their view in multiple ways,
including through logical arguments, scientific laws and - in
the case of the demonstration on Hornbake - graphic evidence.
For example, you're human now (fact), but if the unborn aren't
human, when did you become human? When did you transform from
pre-you to you? Did the increase in size accompanying early
development make you human? Did changing your environment from
the womb to outside the womb transform you into a human? If
the answers to these questions are not apparent, we can
consider the law of biogenesis, which says two sexually
reproducing animals of the same species cannot naturally beget
an animal of a different species. Only an irrational agent
would suggest two dogs can naturally reproduce something other
than a dog, and it is the same with humans. Humans do not and
cannot form something other than humans. In addition, a look
at any embryology textbook will explain life begins at conception.

Another form of scientific evidence comes from pictures of
abortion's aftereffects. Doctors and abortionists have vouched
for these pictures, including Anthony P. Levatino. If you
still have doubts, you can check an embryology text such as
Williams Obstetrics for fetal development pictures, and
imagine what would happen if you tore the fetus apart, as it
is in abortion.

Sadly, since few of the above arguments and falsehoods can
stand on their own, Snyder resorts to name-calling. By
labeling Students for Life a "hate group," she attacks the
individuals relaying the argument rather than the argument itself.

Cornelius Griggs - senior physics major.

Used by permission.

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