AboutTom Gamble Expertise I can answer just about any question about abortion and recommend places to focus if you would like to learn more. My arguments are mainly secular, due to the other person I talk with usually, but I can also discuss religious viewpoints as well. I substantiate all claims I make and always welcome intelligent discussion or general questions.
Experience I present lectures and presentations on bioethical issues and also engage in public debates. I like to focus on one-to-one interaction and attempt to reason through logic, not emotion.
Expert: Tom Gamble Date: 10/5/2003 Subject: Abortion
Question Hi my name is Mary and I am a high school senior and am doing my bench mark project (a six page paper) on abortion. I have a few questions that I would like an expert to answer.
1. Do you think abortion is illegal?
2. I''m trying to prove that abortion should be illegal because its murder, (except in some cases) how can i prove that?
3. What can I have in my paper to prove my thesis, "Abortion should be illegal becuase its murder"
4. Do u think that abortion should be illegal or not? Why or why not
I would appreciate it if u could answer my questions for me thank you very much
-mary-
Answer Mary,
I appreciate your conviction in what you are doing and would love to help you out with this. For your first question, abortion is legal, so I would have to say no. However, I think what you are trying to ask is if I think there should be laws set up to protect the unborn, in which case I would say yes. The focus would be on what is the unborn (if the unborn isn't human, then I wouldn't have a problem with abortion, it's only that the unborn is human that I have a problem.)
For your second question, it's not technically correct to call abortion murder. This is like calling someone a liar, you must show the person intended their action. The truth of the matter today is that many abortionists and women receiving an abortion, do not know what they are doing, they are the second victems of abortion. Murder is usually defined as "the intentional killing of a human being". While I know you could prove the unborn is a human being, you won't be able to prove intent (at least not in most or all cases).
For question 3, I think you will find that thesis untenable (unable to be argued). If I could, I would suggest some other theses (I just had to look up the plural of thesis!). Perhaps focusing on answering the question "What is the unborn?", would be a good topic. You could either go into the philosophical and scientific case, or explain why this question trumps all other questions (including a woman's right to her body, child abuse, etc...).
I want to suggest a great resource for you if you are serious about doing this topic. There is a short book called "Pro-Life 101" written by Scott Klussendorf. You could also visit www.str.org (this is a Christian apologetics website, but the arguments for pro-life are secular, not religious). Take a look at the resources there and especially at some of the outlines on the website. You'll find plenty of information (along with appropriate citations also). The arguments actually prove the unborn is a human being (which is a shock to most people). If you're a good reader, Frank Beckworth's book, "Politically Correct Death" is by far the best pro-life book I've ever read.
Let me know if I can help in any way, good luck with you paper.
