Author Tim Barnett
Published on 08/01/2022
Bioethics

Pro-Choice Advocate Confuses Baby-Making with Baby-Killing

Baby-making and baby-killing are morally different. Here’s why the pro-life position is not just about giving the government control over a woman’s body.


Transcript

Original Video: I just heard that the government can now decide what a woman can and can’t do with her body. But it’s not at all about women, right? It’s not about women. It’s about life. Okay, so does that mean that the government can now decide what us men can and can’t do with our bodies? Because it’s not about women. I have an idea. What if every unmarried man had to get a mandatory, reversible vasectomy. I got one. It’s a lot easier than having my wife on birth control, and I can tell you that it is 100% effective at preventing births. You in, fellas? Or is it your body, your choice?

Mr. B’s Response: This pro-choice argument keeps popping up on social media. The argument attempts to show a parallel between the government controlling men’s reproductive rights by forcing vasectomies and the government controlling women’s reproductive rights by restricting abortion.

Here’s a summary of the challenge: If you think it’s okay for the government to tell women what to do with their bodies when it comes to abortion, then you should also think it’s okay for the government to tell men what to do with their bodies when it comes to vasectomies. But most people think the latter is wrong. Then, by the same logic, so is the former. The problem is, this argument has a fatal flaw.

There is a fundamental, morally relevant difference between the government mandating that men get vasectomies and the government mandating that women not kill their unborn children. Whereas laws forcing men to get vasectomies try to stop humans from being created, laws against abortion try to stop humans from being killed. So, this comparison fails to account for the fact that baby-making and baby-killing are morally different.

This isn’t about government controlling reproductive rights. When a woman is pregnant, reproduction has already happened. An intrinsically valuable human being has already been created. What we’re trying to do is stop that intrinsically valuable human from being killed. In the case of laws in favor of forced sterilization, the government is causing someone harm, but in the case of laws against abortion, the government’s protecting someone from being killed. So, if you think about it, I’m against forced sterilization through vasectomy for the same reason I’m against forced death through abortion. Both harm another human, and that’s wrong.