Why don’t the arguments over life versus choice ever start from the premise that all humans have the same and equal rights? If one starts with that premise, then this choice boils down to the question of the fetus’s right to live versus the mother’s right to self-autonomy. And that leads to the ethical question: does one’s right to life justify enslaving another (even if only temporarily) in order to live?
I think most of us would say no, that is abhorrent. So then why should a fetus be given the right to enslave the mother in order to live?
To me, a fetus requires the mother’s consent in order to use the mother’s body to grow until birth. Without the mother’s consent, it requires the fetus to enslave the mother in order to live, and I find that is also abhorrent.
How would I feel if I found out that in order to be born, I had enslaved my mother against her will? While glad to be alive, I don’t think that knowing I had enslaved my mother would be easy to live with. By forcing a mother to give birth, it will probably end up with at least two people being badly hurt by pro-lifer’s narrow-mindedness.
