a) He wants to legalize abortion – up to nine months!

b) Terrible. But why are you mentioning the gestation age and maturity of the child?

a) That’s all the way to birth. A baby is able to do so much by then!

b) Do we value human beings on how much they can do?

a) But the child is considerably developed by then.

b) Do we value people on the level of their development or maturity?

a) Well …..

b) What if I were to say this or that politician wants to legalize killing post-born children up to 12 years old. Would it make any difference if he said the child killing should stop at 8 years old? Or four years old?

a) No.

b) And what if someone else was pro-adolescent killing all the way up to 21 years old. Would you be relieved if he said he’s pro-adolescent murder but only up to 15?

a) No. That’s still barbaric.

b) And that’s the point, isn’t it? Legalized murder is equally horrific for any human being, at any stage of growth.

a) Well… I guess you have a point.

b) It might be true that we as a species have a different emotional reaction to an infant than we do to the same child when he was an embryo. But we’re gifted with reason, which no other animal has. We know it’s the same human being at the different stages of growth.

a) So you’re saying I should bypass my emotional/intuitive response and hold to what I know to be true and right?

b) Absolutely. Following our lower nature tainted by sin, rather than following reason, is what undergirded slavery and much of the world’s genocides.

a) But I’m pro-life and anti-slavery.

b) Can we call ourselves pro-life if we’re okay with aborting children who were conceived by rapists, through incest, or who have deformities? How are their innocent lives any less valuable than mine or yours? Likewise,  can we consider ourselves pro-life if we’re okay with the killing of human beings early in their embryonic stages of life.

a) Okay, I get it. I must be consistent in my thinking.

b) Yes, which means recognizing that every human being is of equal dignity from the moment of his or her fertilization to natural death – regardless of his or her degree of development, maturity, dependence, or ability to perform tasks.

a) Yes. That is what I believe. I just need to try to align my emotions with reason; but in the meantime I must choose what I know to be right, regardless of how it feels.

b) Now you’re talking like a civilized human being.

a) And I feel better for not being a hypocrite.