Pro-life v. Anti-life

As any pro-lifer knows, those who demand that women have the right to abortions don't like to refer to us as "pro-life". I mean, who isn't, right? No, they like to refer to us as "anti-choice" which is both a lie and a logical fallacy or, in their "kinder" times, "anti-abortion" which also isn't true. I rarely, however, see anyone refer to their view as "anti-life". It happens, I think, but I've never seen or heard it. The Urban Dictionary defines the term as "An ignorant word made up by religious extremeists (sic) to degrade pro-choice people." And the Wictionary says it's a derogatory term for "pro-choice". Still, I've never heard it used. Instead, pro-lifers dance around "pro-choice" or "pro-abortion" trying to figure out which is most appropriate. You know. There are hardcore "pro-abortionists" that are eager for women to have all sorts of abortions as a matter of self-empowerment and there are those who aren't even comfortable with abortions at all but want to make sure there is a choice. But none of them would be "anti-life".

I'm beginning to wonder.

I'm not trying to be derogatory, ignorant, or a religious extremist. I'm not trying to degrade pro-choice. I'm simply examining their arguments and trying to see where it leads. And the more I follow down that path, the closer it gets to "anti-life". Here, check me out and see if I'm too far off.

The pro-life view says that science (without religious input) proves that life begins at conception. From the end of fertilization, this entity is a human being with its own DNA, gender, eye color, fingerprints, genetic tendencies, intrinsic intelligence, and on and on. These are derived partly from the mother but not entirely and partly from the father but not entirely. This being, from the moment of conception, according to science, is a one-of-a-kind human being, the first phase of all the phases of human life. Now, natural law and common sense (again without religious input) argues that humans have value. I mean, we refer to "human rights", right? Not "born-people rights" or "the rights of the after-birth", but human rights. And we are certain that humans have the right to life and that a civilized society needs to protect the weakest humans of that society. Thus, "pro-life".

The pro-choice view says that science proves that life begins at conception, but not personhood. That being in the womb is not a full human being by some nebulous, untestable standard. It is, in some sense, sub-human. There is no way that anyone in this camp can explain at what point this not-quite-human being becomes human, endowed with personhood and all the rights thereto. But it's not inside the womb. And sometimes that non-person status can extend to just outside the womb. But not in the womb. Forget your science. Forget your logic. Forget your pictures and evidence. We are declaring that whatever it is it is not human. Not yet. We're not sure what it is or when it changes, but it's not yet.

The terrifying thing is that this is exactly the position that the pro-slavery movement took on black people. They were sub-human and did not deserve the status of human and the protections that humans receive. It is exactly the position that Nazi Germany took with the Jews. They were not human, but some sub-species and could be destroyed at will. There is no difference between the pro-choice concept of the definition of a pre-born baby and the pro-slavery definition of a black person or a Nazi definition of a Jew.

So, given that religion is not allowed any say here and that science is irrelevant on this (because science irrefutably disagrees with their position), where do we stand? We stand at a position where government determines what a "person" is. Those who are not defined as "persons" have no reasonable expectation of protection of life. So what prevents the government from declaring that those under the age of 18 are not persons? You know, the early stages of human life. Or that the homeless are not persons? Or the infirmed? You know, not "meaningful life". Or the elderly? The final stages of human life. Or the illegal alien? (How many Americans already think of illegal aliens as not quite human?) Since "human being" is irrelevant to the discussion, what would prevent government from solving a lot of problems simply by removing the rights of certain humans who can be judicially declared sub-human? From the position of the "pro-choice" view, I can see nothing that would prevent this approach. And at that point, it looks a lot like "anti-life".