Gregory Koukl

If a woman even a teenager, even a minor, even without her parents' consent has an inalienable right to have an abortion, then how does one argue she can't do something less violent to her body than such a medical procedure, and less violent to the body of another human being--the unborn child--than smoking? How does one argue this is no longer an acceptable choice?

If the government is willing to say that something as extreme as abortion is a private, personal choice (so much so that even the real father of the girl seeking the abortion can't interfere), then how do they justify their own paternalism by taking a cigarette out of the hand of a teenager because she just isn't old enough to decide for herself?

©1999 Gregory Koukl. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only.
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