In the United States, over 98% of abortions take place because the pregnancy’s timing or circumstances don’t fit the woman’s life. The baby is inconvenient. Let’s be clear: Having an abortion because the pregnancy is inconvenient is morally indefensible.
This article presents the conservative argument against the 98% of abortions performed for reasons of convenience, and shows why that logic ultimately collapses.
In This Argument
- Why 98% of Abortions Occur
- When Life Begins and Why This Is Necessary to the Argument
- Why Abortion Is Wrong if Pregnancy or the Baby Is Inconvenient
Table of Contents
The Inconvenience Abortion Statistics
This 98% figure comes from the percentage of abortions that women receive for elective reasons (based on timing, personal reasons, finances, etc.), which this article will call “inconvenient reasons.” To be exact 98.3% according to Johnston’s Archive. A more mainstream percentage would be about 96%, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and this still isn’t much better.
The rest of the 100% according to Johnston’s Archive is 1% for rape, about 0.67% for health of the mother or fetal abnormality, and 0.03% for incest.
This source is credible because instead of conducting surveys itself, it compiles data from official state health departments and government sources. While the site’s author has a pro-life perspective, the raw data comes from neutral state agencies, publicly available info, and verifiable records.
The Conservative Argument Against Inconvenience
While these numbers are staggering, 1% of abortions committed for an inconvenience would be too high a percentage. It’s not the data that makes the argument, it simply strengthens it. So why is inconvenience as a reason for abortion morally wrong?
It is wrong because the baby, or fetus, inside of the woman is a life. Science tells us that an entirely new life begins at fertilization.
An article published on the National Library of Medicine called “The cell biology of fertilization: Gamete attachment and fusion,” claims that a genetically distinct human is created at the moment of fertilization. The diploid zygote has a complete set of chromosomes, 46 of them. Half of the chromosomes are from the mother, and the other half from the father, which marks the first biological stage in the life of a human being.
Since there is a human life at fertilization, abortion, especially for the reason of inconvenience, is wrong. It is wrong to kill a living person for the simple reason that he or she is inconvenient. Let’s break this excuse down even further.
Read More – Does Life Begin at Conception? – The Undeniable Science Behind the Abortion Debate
If the baby is newborn and is crying at night or requires expensive care, is it morally acceptable to kill that baby because he or she is an inconvenience? But once the baby is born, very rarely people argue that inconvenience justifies killing them. Why should a child’s location, in or outside the womb, determine their right to live?
Are you able to kill an elderly person because he or she requires extra attention or support? Should we allow the choice of a nursing home or murder?
Can you kill a disabled person because he or she may be a burden? Does this inconvenience justify killing them?
Can you kill anyone because they are an inconvenience? The answer is no.
Now some may claim that it’s not location or situation, but it’s dependence. The baby inside the womb depends on the mother to live, but dependence doesn’t erase humanity.
A newborn also depends completely on others to survive,. and so does a premature baby in the NICU. Even outside the womb, infants can’t feed themselves, protect themselves, or survive without constant care. Yet, we still recognize them as full human beings with the right to life.
Location also doesn’t change moral worth. Whether a child is in the womb or outside of the womb, they are the same human being. Moving a baby a few inches down the birth canal doesn’t suddenly grant them moral value. Human rights don’t begin at birth, they begin at existence.
The Bottom Line
- 98% of abortions occur because the pregnancy or baby is inconvenient
- Life begins at fertilization, and human life is the basis for why abortion is wrong
- It is wrong to kill a living person for the simple reason that he or she is inconvenient, so why should this be a valid excuse for abortion?
- Dependency and location also doesn’t change the humanity or moral worth of the baby.