The Matt Walsh Show - Matt Walsh Tears Down Pro-Abortion Arguments
Aired: 2021-10-02
Duration: 04:38


=== Why Choice Isn't Universal (03:53) ===

[00:00:00]  With abortion back in the news, you've probably been hearing lots of pro-abortion arguments.
[00:00:03]  They come fast and furious and repetitively, and the one thing they all have in common
[00:00:07]  is that they're all quite wrong and stupid.
[00:00:09]  So now I'm going to go through every pro-abortion argument and debunk them all in about four
[00:00:20]  minutes or less, hopefully.
[00:00:21]  Alright, so four minutes on the clock.
[00:00:23]  Let's go through them.
[00:00:23]  Argument number one.
[00:00:25]  A woman has the right to choose.
[00:00:26]  Answer.
[00:00:27]  No, nobody has a universal right to choose.
[00:00:29]  We all agree that some choices must be prohibited.
[00:00:31]  The question is not if women should be able to choose generally, but if they should be able to choose to intentionally destroy innocent human life.
[00:00:37]  If you say they do, then you have to defend that choice on its merits.
[00:00:40]  You can't defend the choice based simply on the fact that it is one.
[00:00:43]  Two, pro-lifers want to control women's bodies.
[00:00:45]  Answer, no.
[00:00:46]  The body in dispute is not the mother's.
[00:00:48]  The question again is whether the body of the human in her womb can be intentionally destroyed.
[00:00:52]  The child's body is the one at issue here, and we as pro-lifers are the ones trying to defend it.
[00:00:57]  Three, pro-lifers are only pro-birth.
[00:00:58]  They don't care about babies after they're born.
[00:01:01]  Answer.
[00:01:01]  You have no data or evidence to support that stupid claim.
[00:01:03]  Besides, our position is that babies in the womb have moral worth equal to babies outside.
[00:01:08]  Of course we believe babies outside have worth.
[00:01:11]  That's the whole basis of our argument.
[00:01:12]  Our assertion is that babies in the womb have worth, and that's based on our contention that babies and all people outside have worth.
[00:01:19]  Our argument hinges on the comparison between humans inside and outside the womb.
[00:01:24]  And our contention is that there is no inherent difference in these groups, aside from their physical location.
[00:01:29]  4.
[00:01:29]  The fetus is just a clump of cells.
[00:01:31]  Answer.
[00:01:31]  We're all clumps of cells.
[00:01:33]  Some of us are far clumpier than the average infant.
[00:01:36]  None of that is relevant.
[00:01:36]  What's relevant is whether the fetus is a distinct and separate human entity, which he is.
[00:01:41]  5.
[00:01:42]  The fetus is not a person, but a potential person.
[00:01:44]  Answer.
[00:01:45]  No, he is, again, a distinct human entity.
[00:01:47]  If this is not the definition of a person, then none of us are persons.
[00:01:51]  Also, even if he is a potential person, it doesn't automatically follow that we should destroy him.
[00:01:56]  Do you believe that all non-persons can be killed?
[00:01:58]  What if I decapitated a bald eagle?
[00:02:00]  How would you feel about that?
[00:02:01]  You see, you're wrong that the unborn child isn't a person.
[00:02:04]  By definition, he is.
[00:02:05]  But even if you were right, you'd still be wrong.
[00:02:07]  That's how wrong you are.
[00:02:09]  6.
[00:02:09]  Women have reproductive rights.
[00:02:11]  Answer.
[00:02:11]  This one I agree with.
[00:02:12]  Nobody should ever be forced to reproduce.
[00:02:15]  But birth is not reproduction.
[00:02:16]  Conception is reproduction.
[00:02:18]  By the time the abortion is procured, reproduction has already occurred.
[00:02:22]  7.
[00:02:22]  What about rape and incest?
[00:02:23]  Answer.
[00:02:24]  That's not an argument.
[00:02:25]  That's a hypothetical.
[00:02:26]  Rape and incest only account for about 1% of all abortions.
[00:02:29]  These are hard and rare cases.
[00:02:30]  They might mitigate the individual moral culpability of a woman who chooses abortion, but they don't change the fact that the unborn child is a distinct human entity, i.e.
[00:02:38]  a human being, i.e.
[00:02:39]  a person, and therefore worthy of the same protections the rest of us receive.
[00:02:42]  We can't kill the child for the sins of the father.
[00:02:45]  If you want to execute somebody for rape, execute the rapist, not the baby.
[00:02:49]  8.
[00:02:49]  Women cannot be forced to remain pregnant.
[00:02:51]  They have bodily autonomy.
[00:02:52]  Answer.
[00:02:53]  No, they don't have absolute autonomy.
[00:02:54]  And yes, they should be forced to remain pregnant if the other option is to kill the child.
[00:02:59]  If this sounds harsh to you, then consider the fact that we already force parents to do all kinds of things for their born children.
[00:03:05]  We force them to feed their children, clothe their children, care for their children every second of the day.
[00:03:09]  We impose responsibilities on parents that we don't impose on anybody else.
[00:03:13]  I am required to do things for my child that I don't have to do for any other human on earth.
[00:03:18]  If parents don't want to fulfill that obligation, they must find somebody who will.
[00:03:22]  They can't simply leave their kid on the side of the road, nor can they drown their kid in the bathtub.
[00:03:26]  Murder and neglect are not acceptable parenting strategies for babies outside the womb, and they shouldn't be for babies inside the womb either.
[00:03:33]  9.
[00:03:33]  Fetuses aren't conscious, therefore we can kill them.
[00:03:36]  Answer.
[00:03:36]  First of all, how do you know?

=== Degrees of Consciousness (00:59) ===

[00:03:38]  We know basically nothing about the nature of consciousness.
[00:03:40]  We can't even agree on what consciousness is, much less where it comes from or how it works.
[00:03:44]  Besides, let's say that they aren't conscious.
[00:03:46]  How does that justify murder?
[00:03:47]  Especially when we know that their state of unconsciousness is temporary.
[00:03:51]  Should it be legal to kill people when they're sleeping?
[00:03:54]  What about a person who's in a coma but expected to recover within a few months?
[00:03:57]  And if consciousness is the measure, then shouldn't the right to life be granted in degrees according to the level of consciousness?
[00:04:03]  Not everybody is equal in consciousness.
[00:04:04]  A 25-year-old has greater consciousness, greater self-awareness, than a one-year-old.
[00:04:08]  What about people with dementia?
[00:04:10]  They're conscious to some degree, but it's fading.
[00:04:12]  So how far does that go?
[00:04:13]  What's the limiting principle here?
[00:04:14]  There isn't one.
[00:04:15]  Ten, finally, pro-lifers are just a bunch of men trying to boss women around.
[00:04:19]  Answer, not true.
[00:04:20]  The pro-life movement is and has always been led primarily by women.
[00:04:23]  Also, it's irrelevant.
[00:04:24]  Also, it's a double-edged sword.
[00:04:25]  Roe v. Wade was decided by only men.
[00:04:29]  Should we overturn it on that basis?
[00:04:30]  I'm guessing you'd say no.
[00:04:32]  That's why that argument doesn't work.
[00:04:34]  None of these arguments work, which isn't a surprise given that you're trying to justify the murder of children.