Abortion Debate: Location, Location, Location.

At work, I am an English Instructor by definition, but really I just help adults learn how to read better. I teach some grammar including punctuation, misplaced modifiers, and past participles ('ridden' is the past participle of the verb 'ride'...ride, rode, has/have ridden). To switch it up, I incorporate some reading comprehension exercises usually taken from newspapers. It is a great job and I am very thankful to have it.

Today our class discussed an article about President Obama addressing grad students at Notre Dame University. This event was controversial because many thought it contradictory for a Catholic University to honor a speaker who was pro-abortion. During our tangential classroom discussion one student suggested that the fetus is not a person because it could not live on its own outside the womb. Playing the advocate (and also myself), I engaged her in a debate. I have a great relationship with this student (thus far) and felt comfortable in talking about this issue. Our dialogue went something like this...

Me: So, are you saying that a fetus is not a person because it can't live outside the womb?

Student: Yes, it needs the mother to survive. It can only survive outside the womb after 22 weeks or something like that.

Me: Hold on. There are two things going on here. First, you mentioned that a baby is not a person because it cannot live on its own outside the womb.

Student: Yeah.

Me: So this is a matter of location, environment right? Can anything survive outside its natural environment? If you were sent into space without an oxygen mask, you would die. If you were dropped into the ocean without food or water, you would die. Even if you were just born and left on your own to survive, you would die. Now, in any of these three instances, are you not still a person?

Student: Yeah, but, it needs the mother to survive.

Another student: Like a parasite.

Me: Hold on, so your saying that a fetus is not a person because it relies on something else to survive.

Student: Yeah, it would die otherwise.

Me: Couldn't you say the same about someone on oxygen? Or someone on insulin? Or someone on kidney dialysis? Do not these people still retain personhood? (Student #3 nods head in agreement).

Student: Yeah, but...a fetus can't live on its own.

(Hello? Hello? Anybody home? Think, McFly!)

Unfortunately, we had to get back to the lesson. But the pro-abortion argument goes like this: A fetus is not a person because it is in the wrong environment; it can't live outside the womb on its own. Steve Wagner from str.org posted a response to this kind of argument: "How long can you breathe under water? Well, did you know that the unborn is not only surrounded by amniotic fluid, she is breathing it in an out of her lungs? If you can't survive in her world, why are you asking her to survive in yours? Isn't that a bit arbitrary and unfair?"

The fact of the matter is that nothing can survive outside its environment. Can a fish live out of water? No, but it is still a fish.