Answering Those Who Are Personally Opposed To Abortion, But Believe Others Should Be Allowed To Have One

Ana Benderas of Live Action explains a simple statement to make when confronted with someone who says that they think abortion is wrong, but it should be kept legal.

This is the favorite line of many politicians on both sides of the aisle. They are trying to please everyone involved in the abortion debate while not really taking a stand at all.  Other lines they often use are that they want abortion to be rare, they are personally opposed to abortion, or they want to reduce the number of abortions.  Simple questions to ask are: Why do you want it to be rare? Why are you personally opposed to it? Why do you want to reduce the number of abortions? Usually they will state that it's the killing of an unborn or killing a fetus, etc. Then the obvious statement is that "You are against abortion because it's killing, but it's fine for someone else to do it if they want to. That's akin to stating you're against rape, murder, bank robbery, child abuse, etc., but if someone else wants to do those, that's their choice."  Then they might say that abortion is legal, and those acts you listed are not.  Well, slavery was once legal.  Do they think it should have remained legal just because it once was?  There are bad laws at times, and legalized abortion is one of them.

Too many politicians or people in the public eye are not taken to task by anyone in the media for making such absurd statements because they sound so tolerant of both views of abortion. But logic dictates that they should explain their bizarre statements. There's not another issue in our country where someone is committing such a heinous act that people respond with "Well, I'm against it, but if they want to do it, that's fine."

Actually, I believe if someone who claims they are pro-choice is asked, "Do you really believe in the killing of an unborn baby?" they may state the line that they wouldn't have an abortion themselves, but it still should be legal, or someone else should still do what they want with their body.  Why wouldn't they have one for themselves?  Or they might say that it would be a tough decision that should be made between the mother, father, and their doctor.  Why is it a tough decision?   If a pro-choice person is called pro-abortion, they often get very defensive and state that they are not pro-abortion, but they believe someone has a right to have one.  Once again, they should be asked if they are not pro-abortion, why do they believe someone else should have one?

Anyone who makes such statements, whether they are in the public eye or not, should be asked to explain their position.  It only takes a few non-combative statements or questions for them to possibly see the error or their thinking.