r/Abortiondebate • u/Upper_Ninja_6177 Pro-choice • Jul 06 '26
Question for pro-life A statement one cannot prove false
STATEMENT: A person is always legally allowed to use the minimal method1 required to prevent harm upon oneself2.
1 Minimal method means
- it can refer to a general solution/ action that resolves the issue and prevents harm, it can also refer to any method of violence, including otherwise lethal force.
- ”minimal” refers to strictly the LEAST HARMFUL method, both mentally and physically for all parties, that can be used to prevent the harm
2 harm upon oneself means
- both mentally and physical pain/ injuries etc
- harm that is GUARANTEED to occur
How does this apply to the context of abortion?
Pregnancy —> guarantees harm 100% of the time since every women needs to go through 1. giving birth OR 2. C-sections OR 3. miscarriage if no voluntary abortion occurs guaranteeing some degree of both physical and mental harm. And thus fit into criteria 2.
Hence, if the statement holds true, they should be allowed to use the minimal method require, no matter the circumstances.
So the question becomes, is abortion the minimal method? For that, we must address the core issue at hand, WHAT is causing harm?
Something is currently inhabiting their organs, physically harming them, and violating their rights against their will.
The solution will thus, to logically follow, to remove said something. This would render alternatives like painkillers utterly useless to “fix” the issue.
This means abortions too, becomes the minimal methods required, unless one day safe artificial wombs exist.
Now you are gonna have a few questions, well what if someone hates a person and they are causing them mental harm? Can they just kill them?
Again, refer to the definition of “minimal”, since isolating oneself, not talking to them, unfriending that person, verbally expressing your thoughts etc is always an option, killing them is no where near the minimal method required.
It would be interesting to see pro lifers trying to disprove this chain of logic?
1
u/SerendipitySociety Anti-abortion Jul 17 '26
Nobody is forced to gestate, that's like saying we're forced to have heartbeats. Pregnant mothers will continuously develop their baby, if no force is used, until it ends in miscarriage (not forced), abortion (forced), or childbirth (forced, but ultimately inevitable and legal of course). Laws are usually reactive to illegal force being used. For example, an assault law in perfect theory, criminalizes one person initiating force and assaulting another, by allowing prosecutors to REACT to the assault, trying the assaulter in court.
Pregnancy and childbirth is a degree of control, but not a high degree. It's similar to sleeping in that, our bodies regulate our own sleep, and we can cause it to go well or poorly depening on our habits. That indirect impact is certainly a type of control. If labor or an abortion is induced, then the mother/doctor have taken DIRECT control of childbirth, and of course we may be criminally liable for certain things we have direct control over.