Argument Against Abortion

Rush Limbaugh has the best argument against abortion I have ever read. After reading it, it’s no wonder that Rush is the #1 radio host. And it baffles me how anyone can support abortion after seriously thinking it through. You can read the whole argument in chapter 6 of The Way Things Ought To Be by Rush Limbaugh– probably available from your local library, which is where I got the copy I’m reading– or just read these major points…

  • He does not want to rehash the old, standard arguments, but just explain why he’s pro-life and proud of it.
  • “I believe that life begins at conception and that killing that human life is justifiable only when it’s necessary to save the mother’s life.”
  • We are now making decisions as to who lives and who dies on the basis of whether it is convenient for the LIVING. That’s dangerous.
  • “…just 7 percent of all abortions are motivated by ‘hard cases.'” 3% the mother’s health; 3% the baby has a possible health problem; 1% rape or incest. 93% birth control or societal reasons.
  • The most common justification is that it is a woman’s right to choose.
    • To choose what? Can a woman choose to steal, using her own body? Can she choose to do drugs, according to the law?
    • Consider prostitution and drugs, which are both illegal: there is precedent for society determining what a woman can and can’t do with her body.
  • The 2nd most common is that bringing a child into the world with bad circumstances isn’t right: for instance, if the mother is in poverty, the child might suffer.
    • We should kill a child in the womb so that it won’t feel pain and suffering growing up? We should prevent suffering by killing?
  • Debates on abortion rarely change anyone’s mind, so he tries not to get involved.
  • We have to admit that some of our actions as humans have an impact on society and they have to be regulated.
  • A lot of people say we should legalize cocaine and heroin: the people who are inclined to use drugs are going to do so regardless of its illegality.
    • But the fact that people are going to ignore and break laws is not a valid argument for decriminalization.
    • Standright and wrong and basic decency must be established and maintained.
  • The erosion of the moral fabric of society is a gradual, insidious process. It happens, bit by bit, almost imperceptibly.
  • “I am pro-choice. I just hope the choice is for life.”
  • It shouldn’t matter to pro-choice radicals if a woman is talked out of an abortion, yet strangely it does.
    • 2 reasons: (1) it is the sacrament of feminism, the fuel running their entire political agenda; (2) money.
    • Abortion is a huge business; if abortions are $300 each, the money being made on abortions is perhaps $450 million/year.
  • The majority of the American people are not in favor of unlimited abortion on demand, but the law was decided by Roe v. Wade, the decision of nine guys in black robes back in 1973– not a democratic fashion.
  • Suppose in the not-too-distant future a doctor is able to tell the parents of a baby in a womb that it will have freckles and red hair and be prone to obesity. Then suppose the parents decide they do not want a child who would suffer from those characteristics and abort on that basis? (It’s already happening with sex-selection abortions.)
  • One of those babies that was aborted 30 years ago could have discovered the cure for AIDS.
    • Beethoven had a wretched childhood.
    • Charles Dickens lived in poverty.
    • Would you have wanted to abort them?
  • “I’ve had women call me on the show and say they were almost aborted by their parents. You can’t imagine the emotional wallop that packs.”
  • “We have countless ways of preventing pregnancy, which, if utilized, would negate the need for so many abortions. Our society would be much better off if that responsibility were exercised, rather than abortion used as a selfish way of escaping what is, in truth, careless and reckless behavior.”


Wow. I would like to hear how anyone can support abortion with all that in mind.

Please post your comments below.

8 Responses to “Argument Against Abortion”

  1. That’s pretty convincing. Then again, I’m already against abortion, so I’m already taken. I believe that we really need people that are so convinced about abortion, and stop saying it’s a choice. Great post.

  2. - says:

    I’m not a strong believer of either side, but I’ll play devil’s advocate:

    His entire argument hinges on his assertion that life begins at conception, which he lumps into the “old, standard arguments” category.

    Also, some of these arguments are pretty ridiculous.

    “The majority of the American people are not in favor of unlimited abortion on demand, but the law was decided by Roe v. Wade, the decision of nine guys in black robes back in 1973– not a democratic fashion.”

    They found that anti-abortion laws violated the Constitution. Is he arguing that the Supreme Court is not democratic? That’s another debate.

    “One of those babies that was aborted 30 years ago could have discovered the cure for AIDS.”

    So could one of the billions of potential babies that people around the world chose not to even try to have. Should we all just fuck like bunnies and have billions of babies so that one of them might find a cure for cancer, or be the next Beethoven, etc? I think not. That’s the equivalent of playing the lottery. As it is, the 6 billion people already on Earth seem to be doing a pretty good job of destroying it.

    “I’ve had women call me on the show and say they were almost aborted by their parents. You can’t imagine the emotional wallop that packs.”

    First of all, what kind of parents would tell their kid they almost aborted them? And how is that relevant? In a world where abortion were illegal, a parent could just as easily tell their child “if abortion were illegal, I would have aborted you” or “I wish I never had you”, which would be even more hurtful. Either way, it’s irrelevant to this debate.

    • Elliot Lee says:

      Ah, thanks for the comment. You should read Rush’s actual chapter on the subject, as I took these thoughts completely out of context.

      For instance, here’s a little more context about that AIDS thing…

      “Some people’s priorities puzzle me. I get calls from nutso environmentalists who are filled with compassion for every snail darter that is threatened by some dam somewhere. Yet, they have no interest in the 1.5 million fetuses that are aborted every year in the United States. I love to argue with them and challenge their double standard. They’ll call up and ask me if I believe the rain forests should be saved. I tell them that I don’t think we’re headed for a crisis on the rain forests, and that if Third World countries allowed people to own the rain forests there would be less incentive to chop them down. People who own private forests in the United States don’t chop them down and leave stumps; they grow more trees on them. The parallels are irresistible, folks. As I point out in the Rodney King chapter, people don’t burn down that which they own.

      “Well, the callers tell me I don’t understand what we’re losing by cutting down the rain forests. Every time we chop one tree down we could be ruining the chances for finding a cure for AIDS or a treatment for cancer. I ask them if they support abortion, the killing of a million and a half babies in the womb every year. Well, it’s a woman’s right to choose, they say. I respond by pointing out that one of those babies that was aborted thirty years ago might have grown up to be a brilliant scientist and could have discovered the cure for AIDS. …”

      You’ll have to read the rest for yourself :)

  3. Hi

    Just bumped into your blog by chance (thanks for ThinkPad keyboard beep fix!), and coming from Denmark it’s strange to read that otherwise reasonable people is against abortion. Here in Denmark only the minority that is against abortion, so if you, for instance, speak out at party that you is against, it will definitely raise some eyebrows.

    I should properly underline that I do not see you as being not reasonable, it just interesting to see someone that has another opinion. And it got me interested in reading the case against abortion.

    While reading Limbaugh’s arguments I really tried to understand why one would be against abortion. I and actually think that I understand: You simply believe that is wrong kill an embryo.

    I think that this belief is just as much a socialized belief, as it is a belief based on fact based reasoning. It is just very hard to change someone’s mind on this subject.

    For me the important thing is that a child should not be brought into the world if it’s not the wish of the parents. For me it’s wrong to have unwanted children. It is in the wording “unwanted” – that doesn’t sound nice.

    Although I have to admit that an unwanted child has just as much chance for being loved and cared for, as a wanted child has of being neglected.

    Thanks for the insight into the case against! This reply isn’t meant to start a heated discussion, just my thoughts after reading you post.

    Regards Emil

    • Elliot Lee says:

      Hi Emil, thanks for the comment! That’s a reasonable understanding, as we believe life begins at conception. If it’s not the wish of the parents, there are plenty of birth control methods available which would prevent the need for an abortion. Once innocent human life has been created, it must have a chance to live. As you said, “an unwanted child has just as much chance for being loved and cared for, as a wanted child has of being neglected.”

      Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope to hear from you again!

  4. […] Recently, I read Rush Limbaugh’s The Way Things Ought to Be. I’ve posted about it before: Argument Against Abortion. […]

  5. anette diaz says:

    dear elliot lee,

    abortion is not a good thing because the babies had nothing to do with them aborting it.aborting shouldn’t be allowed because the children deserve to live and see life.so,i understand what your saying because its not fair for them…

    sincerely,
    anette

  6. Noelle. says:

    i’m majorly againat abortion. and im doing a debate at school on it. this gave me alot of information. and enough to win my argument. i think that you should take the babies hand, not the babies life.

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