An Akron area school, Mount Union University, in an attempt to find common ground in the abortion debate, presented the play “Keely and Du.” The producers organized a panel discussion after the production to foster community discussion on this divisive issue. The plot of the play was quite biased against the pro-life side of the argument, but of course they made up for that by putting together a panel with six pro-abortionists and one pro-lifer. At the end of the day no common ground was reached. In the next installment of the Akron Politics and Religion Examiner you will read why.
By maintaining a strict adherence to consistency of thinking it may be possible to find the common ground on this issue, that eluded the producer of “Keely and Du”. Admittedly much of the argument surrounding this issue holds no potential for common ground. The pro-abortionist says it's my body my choice, the pro-lifer says the baby growing inside the mother is a completely different individual.
In some instances both sides will agree that abortion is the killing of a human being. However the pro-lifer believes that death to be murder while the pro-abortionist believes that the death of the unborn does not matter. The pro-abortionist argues that men should not be allowed to discuss this issue because the baby is not growing inside his body. The pro-lifer often points out that everyone who favors abortion is already alive. One Columbus area entrepreneur often quips that his solution to the abortion problem is to make it retroactive for those who believe in it.
Most of the time pro-abortion apologists focus their entire argument on less than one half of one percent of abortion cases. They make the point that a woman who is raped should not be forced to carry the baby to term, she should be allowed to kill that baby. The pro-life community argues that abortionists should be punished for killing the unborn. In fact some will go so far as to say that the abortionist should be executed for murder.
Could it be that herein lies the point of common ground? Put this before your pro-abortion friend for consideration. Since he believes that one of the victims of the rape should be executed for the crime of another maybe he would agree to a compromise in the abortion debate. Maybe he will agree to allow society to execute other crime victims if they believe this. This compromise will satisfy those pro-lifers who wish to punish abortionists for murdering babies, and it will satisfy the pro-abortionist that believes the victim should be executed for the crime against him.
OK, maybe there is no common ground to be found on the abortion issue. This piece was simply an attempt to even out the playing field set up by the producers of “Keely and Du” on the campus of Mount Union University. The answers given to one particular question during the panel discussion at Mount Union University reveal why the organizers failed to find the common ground they desired. Come back for the next installment here for that discussion.
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