Have you ever been to an overcrowded baseball game and tried to buy a hot dog? It is not fun, especially if you dislike waiting lines. You might go to the concessions and wait in line through two full innings, just to find out they’re out of hot dogs. So you’ll have to settle for those weird pre-packaged nachos with only half-melted cheese. Yum (not).
The situation above is not a good one. Not only are there not enough hot dogs for everyone and the long wait ruining your game day experience, but the ballpark may be putting a stress on the natural resources needed to produce their food and merchandise.
So here’s the proposed solution: kill baseball fans.
Less baseball fans equals less need of natural resources; less need of natural resources equals a healthier environment; and a healthier environment equals higher quality of life for everyone! (Except, of course, for the baseball fans…)
Problem solved!
Sadly, this is the type of reasoning that is required in order to truly use an Environmentalist argument to justify abortion. Even if we assume the Earth is like an overcrowded baseball game (spoiler alert – it’s not), none of us would agree to killing people as a means of “solving the problem.” Mostly because killing people is an even bigger problem. If the solution is a bigger problem than the original problem, it’s not really a solution at all.
The root question for abortion supporters motivated by a care for the environment is this: Does abortion kill a human being? If it does, abortion is not an acceptable way to help the environment. It’d be like killing baseball fans at the baseball game. The answer to this question completely determines whether the status of the environment is an appropriate excuse for supporting abortion. Thus, the environment is not really the issue at all when it comes to abortion – the issue is the status of the preborn.
So instead of killing people to “help” the environment, let’s work together towards genuinely helpful solutions for the health of our planet. We can all agree we should be good stewards of our planet. Let’s find ways to produce food more efficiently. Let’s work towards more accessible renewable energy. Let’s be more efficient with our water use. Let’s create new technologies to improve all life on earth. And let’s value all human lives and human equality. We can care for our planet and care for our young at the same time.
