Last Sunday, hundreds of people gathered to participate in Spokane’s annual “Walk for Life” event sponsored by Walk for Life Northwest. This incredible “boots on the ground” turnout in one of Washington’s most Left-leaning cities shows that the pro-life movement is alive and well in our state, and there is hope for change culturally and politically. Walk for Life Northwest’s mission through the marches is to:
Bring large numbers of people out in support of a pro-life culture, to shed light on the truth about abortion and the damage it does to women, men, and society, [and] to help women and men hurt by abortion to find healing.
FPIW CEO Brian Noble was one of the featured speakers at the 2023 event, and this year we were proud to have our organization once again stand alongside hundreds of pro-life men, women, and children and march in defense of the unborn. “Life starts at conception. There is a divine destiny for every life that has been formed in the womb,” Noble shared at the 2024 event via livestream.
Abortion Politics
Your choices this election season will play a part in determining our state and nation’s stance on abortion. Choose wisely! No doubt, abortion has been a major issue for decades and remains a major part in this election:
- Abortion is on the ballot in 10 states in the upcoming General Election, and the individuals elected on November 5 will weigh in on many pro-life policies while in office.
- Kamala Harris is one of the most pro-abortion politicians of our lifetime. She invokes “Freedom” as a theme and recently emphasized her commitment to abortion-on-demand and introduced 10 abortionists at her campaign rally in Texas, praising them for their work.
- Donald Trump was instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade by appointing three Supreme Court Justices who defended the rights of the unborn. He is often considered the most pro-life president in U.S. history. Trump since has reiterated his support for abortion to be determined on a state-by-state basis, but has also mentioned his approval for mail-order abortion pills in accordance with Dobbs.
The Viability Argument
In our state races, one common argument made in defense of abortion has been the Viability Argument. How would you respond to this argument made by many pro-choice individuals?
“A person is a person only if he or she can survive outside of the womb. That’s called viability. If the fetus is not viable, then abortion is permissible.”
Let’s dig deeper into this popular pro-abortion argument, which alleges that the viability of a person directly correlates to their worth as a human being, and whether they deserve to live or die.
Reply #1: Apologist Trent Horn’s puts this debate in a new light by “switching places”:
You’re claiming that the fetus can be considered a person only if he or she can survive where you can. But what if the fetus demanded you prove your personhood by living where he or she does, in the watery environment of the womb? You wouldn’t last more than five minutes. Perhaps from the fetus’s perspective, you’re not a person.
Reply #2: Professor Peter Kreeft offers another rebuttal against the Viability Argument, noting that external technology cannot define personhood.
Viability won’t work because that varies with accidental things and external things like place. A five-month-old fetus that’s viable in modern America, with incubators, isn’t viable in Borneo, or a hundred years ago. … Does a preemie suddenly become a person when an incubator arrives?
And:
What I am in the womb, a person or a non-person, cannot be determined by what machines exist outside the womb. But viability is determined by such things. Therefore, personhood cannot be determined by viability.
Pro-Life Logic
At large, the overall argument for the pro-life cause goes:
Premise 1: The most basic purpose of any government is to protect the life of human beings.
Premise 2: All human beings have a right to life.
Premise 3: Pre-born children of human being are in fact human beings.
Conclusion: Therefore, the law must protect pre-born human beings.
Learning how to defend this argument brings confidence to engage the abortion debate with clarity and calmness. To equip yourself on how to reply to the Viability Argument and other common pro-choice arguments, try our free educational booklet Pro-Life Logic: Tyranny, or Murder? Our other training materials can be accessed here.
At FPIW, we care deeply about defending the lives of the unborn and protecting women from the tragedy of abortion. You can learn more about our stance on abortion by reading our Issues Booklet, which can be found here. If this is a topic you are passionate about, please consider joining our team of DEFENDERS to advocate for your values in the public square and beyond.
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