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Person 1: A woman’s choice to get an abortion is none of your business. Person 2 (our hero): I don’t want to violate anyone’s privacy. Let me ask a question; bear with me. If I overhear parents planning to kill their two-year-old, should I intervene?

Is Abortion None of Your Business?

Don’t expect this analogy on its own to change anyone’s mind. Pro-choice people usually feel that there’s an important difference between abortion and killing two-year-olds. The point of the analogy is just to bring those differences to the surface. Listen very carefully as they explain what they feel is the crucial difference between abortion and killing a two-year-old, and go from there.

They might point to something about the fetus herself. They might think abortion is similar to killing a plant or removing a tumor. On the other hand, they might point to something about the situation the fetus and mother are in. They might think abortion is similar to unplugging a ventilator or defending yourself against an assailant.

Rarely, someone might bite the bullet and say to let the parents kill the two-year-old. In this case, we recommend that you drop the abortion topic until you can reach agreement about two-year-olds.

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Suggested:
Person 1: The decision to get an abortion is between a woman and her doctor. Person 2 (our hero): I don’t want to violate anyone’s privacy. Let me ask a question. It may seem irrelevant, but please bear with me. Suppose a doctor starts offering infanticide “services.” How should we respond?Person 1: We shouldn’t tell women what to do. Person 2 (our hero): I agree that we should generally avoid restricting people’s freedom, but we should make exceptions to keep people from hurting each other.Person 1: I’m pro-choice because I’m libertarian. Person 2 (our hero): Most libertarians think the government should prevent aggressive violence. Ron Paul and many others think that includes abortion.Person 1: Don’t impose your religious beliefs on me. Person 2 (our hero): I don’t want to violate your religious freedom. Would you be interested in having a non-religious discussion about abortion?
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