Posts Tagged ‘abortion’

Event: Abortion, Morality and Law

Saturday, July 25th, 2009
Dr. Glenn Peoples, PhD

Dr. Glenn Peoples, PhD

Prolife UC presents a talk by Dr. Glenn Peoples, PhD…

ABORTION, MORALITY and LAW
Friday 31st July 7.30pm
A3 lecture theatre, University of Canterbury (map below)

Is abortion immoral, and should it be legal? The abortion controversy is a persistent one in New Zealand that has seen revived interest lately. Dr Glenn Peoples provides reasons for deeming abortion immoral and for its legal restriction. He also considers some arguments for abortion rights and explains how to address these, showing that they overlook the fundamental moral issues involved.

Dr. Peoples will also be speaking at an event at 7:30pm on Thursday night in the same venue, and as the topic will be of interest to a wide range of people, we are advertising the talk on our website:

Chasing the Justificatory Goalpost: Public Justification and Religious Beliefs
Thursday 30th July 7.30pm
A3 lecture theatre, University of Canterbury (map below)

“There is a broad political tradition that we are a part of that we could call “the liberal democracy.” Some modern thinkers allege that in a liberal democratic society like ours, we should not advocate policies or ideas in the public square that are justified by our religious beliefs (e.g. policies on abortion, marriage, education etc). This is because these people advocate a principle of justification, whereby all policies must be justifiable to our fellow citizen in a certain way, and (as everyone knows, of course!) all policies that are justified by our religious beliefs cannot be justified to our fellow citizens in this way. I look at exactly what this principle of justification is, whether it’s any good (I argue that it needs improvement), and most importantly, I ask whether or not it’s really true that policies that have a religious basis really do fail to be justified in this way.”

Dr Peoples graduated from the University of Otago in 2008 with his PhD in philosophy. His areas of specialisation are ethics, philosophy of religion and political philosophy. He also runs a popular blog devoted to philosophy, theology and politics.

All welcome, donation appreciated
Free parking (turn right off University Drive which is off Clyde Road)
For more info, phone: (03) 980 2159


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The Ad Hominem Fallacy

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Scott Klusendorf has written an article entitled Five Bad Ways to Argue About Abortion. One of the mistakes he points out is known as the Ad hominem fallacy where people attack the person rather than refute the argument. The following is an excerpt from the article where he specifically deals with the challenge: you say you disagree with abortion – so how many babies have you adopted?

“Consider also the claim that pro-lifers are hypocritical to protest abortion unless they adopt babies they do not want aborted. For the moment, let’s assume there are not two million American families willing to do this, as is the case. How would the alleged reluctance of pro-lifers to adopt babies justify the act of abortion? While it is true that pro-life advocates should help those facing crisis pregnancies, it is not true that abortion is justified whenever that obligation is left unmet.

Imagine a bigot arguing, Unless you agree to marry my wife, you have no right to oppose me beating her. Or, Unless you are willing to adopt my three sons by noon today, I shall execute them. If you reject his ultimatum, is he morally justified performing acts of violence on innocent victims?”

Continue Reading…

Of course pro-lifers should offer to adopt unwanted babies whenever possible, and Prolife UC’s adoption offer stands. However attempting to defend abortion on the grounds that pro-lifers are not consistent when they don’t adopt, is poor logic.

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The Adoption Challenge

Saturday, May 30th, 2009

University of Canterbury Students Association Society, Prolife UC takes abortion very seriously. In response to a letter to the editor of CANTA (Finn, 25 May), our society has committed to ensuring that any pregnant woman seeking an abortion is given the opportunity for their unborn child to be carried to term and then adopted.

In each case, our group will find a couple who will adopt the child of any woman who would have otherwise had her aborted. If we are unable to find a suitable couple, one of our members will adopt the child.

We are thankful to have already received an offer of adoption from a couple living in Rangiora. I have asked them for some background information on themselves and their family…

Pregnant, considering an abortion?

  • We are Craig and Julie Thompson of Rangiora
  • We have a family of 10 children in a large house on 24 Acres
  • We have a supportive teenage daughter who cares
  • We will care and support you during your pregnancy, birth and beyond
  • We would like to openly adopt and care for your child
  • We have a range of specialised support people available including doctors, midwives, councellors etc

Anyone in a crisis pregnancy situation – or who knows a woman who is in a crisis pregnancy situation and unsure – is encouraged to get in touch with Craig & Julie confidentially through this website. Click here to email Prolife UC and we will pass your email on to them.

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