Politically Correct Death: Answering the Arguments for Abortion Rights

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Resource
Review: Beckwith's style and arguments are both enlightening and very readable. reviews. This book provides convincing logical and ethical arguments against the abortion rights movement. Beckwith makes a sincere and well developed effort to remove the argument from the exclusive realm of religion and into the arena of public discourse. This is a great resource for the pro-life advocate. The person who accurately reads this book without the clous of person presuppositions cannot help but come to the same conclusion as the author concerning the abortion issue and the crime of defining the murder of children in politically correct terms. Read this book

Rating:
Summary: Not 100% Pro-Life
Review: I have used this book for research purposes, and from what I've read so far, I find this to be an overall excellent resource. However, just today I saw that it has at least two fundamental flaws: Beckwith is not 100% pro-Life.

On page 115, for instance, he writes: "...there could be times at which abortion is justified." An example case he mentions is where a woman's pregnancy will probably result in her death due to, say, a tubal pregnancy. Says Beckwith: "Because it is a greater good that one human should live rather than two die, the pro-lifer believes that in this case abortion is justified."

This is preposterous. First, *he* believes this, but certainly not all pro-lifers! Secondly, in the case he mentions, abortion would NOT be justified still as one would be engaging in an instrinsically immoral act in order to bring about a good. In other words, he is implicitly saying that the end justifies the means--but this is consequentialism. It is always wrong to kill an innocent human being deliberately, and therefore we could NOT kill the baby in the fallopian tube even if the result will be that both mother and baby die. The only possibility to save the life of the mother would be if the circumstances would allow us to make use of the Principle of Double-Effect -- that is, if saving the mother's life would only *unintentionally* and *indirectly* entail the death of the baby, such as when a cancerous uterus has to be removed and the woman happens to be pregnant. But direct killing of a human fetus is never permissible, no matter what "good" might come out of it.

Think about it. Beckwith's position here entails that if we can prevent 100,000 people from dying of, say, cancer by killing one innocent person, then that's a good thing to do. But this is morally reprehensible.

Another unacceptable thing Beckwith says on page 114: "Biological human life without the natural inherent capacity to function as a person (that is, the metaphysical grounding of human personhood that makes human function possible) is probably not fully human." This is a preposterous assertion. To say that there can be human life that's not fully human is first of all a logical contradiction. Secondly, his statement implies that someone who does not fulfill whatever criteria of "personhood" he may consider necessary, then he is "sub-human" or something. I am puzzled that Beckwith would make such an argument, because it contradicts his otherwise keen intellect and good argumentation.

Unfortunately, I can only endorse this book with strong reservations now. Most of the other things I have read were very good. I want to make this point clear. It is definitely a terrific book to have, but, alas, not uncompromisingly pro-Life. I also wish to caution about the author's theology, as he is a Protestant.

Rating:
Summary: Beckwith Persuades with Logic and Science
Review: In "Politically Correct Death" (hereafter, PC Death), Dr. Francis Beckwith argues that the unborn entity is fully human,hence elective abortion is morally unjust.

This is, of course, the standard pro-life pitch for the last 25 years. What makes Beckwith unique is his rigorous logic and argumentation in support of his thesis. You will not find emotionally charged rhetoric or religious sentiment here. In fact, some of Beckwith's critics attack him precisely because he is so logical. Now there's a new twist: careful thinking a sin?

In PC Death, Beckwith demolishes popular abortion rights rhetoric by showing that most pro-choice arguments beg the question. That is to say, they assume the very thing they are trying to prove. Take, for example, the popular coat-hanger argument that states women will die by the thousands if abortion is restricted. But as Beckwith points out, unless you begin with the assumption the unborn are not fully human, this argument is tantamount to saying that because some people will die attempting to kill others, the state should make it safe and legal for them to do so. Should we legalize bank-robbery so that it is safer for felons?

In my opinion, Beckwith is at his best when confronting academic arguments for abortion rights, in particular, his analysis of Professor Judith Jarvis Thomson's famous violinist argument. Thomson is unique in that she bites the bullet: she concedes the humanity of the unborn, but argues that abortion is justified because no woman should be forced to use her bodily organs to sustain the life of another against her will. This is a potentially devastating argument against the pro-life view.

Beckwith, however, presents a nine point rebuttal to Thomson's carefully argued piece, and does so in a fair and even-handed manner. To sum up Beckwith's response, Thomson's arguemt is flawed because it fails to distinguish between our right to withhold support and our duty not to actively kill another person--which is what elective abortion does.

PC Death is truly refreshing for its careful consideration of facts and arguments. I'm surprised, however, at the response from some abortion rights advocates who resort to name calling instead of refuting Dr. Beckwith's arguments. Now it may be the case that PC Death is a poorly reasoned piece. But this must be proven by appealing to evidence, not launching ad-hominem attacks against the author.

If abortion rights advocates are to have any credibility with clear thinking individuals, they will have to do better than that. Dr. Beckwith has presented a carefully reasoned case for the pro-life position. Prove him wrong if you can. But please, dispense with the childish name calling.

Rating:
Summary: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I bought two copies, one to share.
Review: Mr. Beckwith has written at a level that is both intelligent and accessible to those without a degree in "Arguments from Tolerance and Ad Hominem", "Arguments from Bodily Rights," and "Arguments from Theology in the Bible" to name just a few. You'll want to peruse the epilogue called "A Dialogue on Civil Disobedience--Socrates to the Rescue" The appendices are nifty (and NOT dull!). My only criticism is that I wanted MORE information, MORE data..more of Mr. Beckwith's fine argumentation.This book is recommended by philosopher J. P. Moreland (whose books I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND), psychiatrist Patricia Wesley, M.D., Gary Bauer, George Will and law professor Teresa Collett, to name a few. As I said, it is well written, atractive in font and layout, and very helpful to those of us who still believe that life is sacred both in the womb and out of it, despite the ruthless political ideologies that insist otherwise. This book will give you a voice to defend the defenseless in a conversation or in a debate.BUY AN EXTRA COPY for your pastor, your friend, your Sunday School teacher. The )M. A. Schultz, North Miami Beach, F

Rating:
Summary: A 'field guide' to defending the pro-life position.
Review: Originally published in 1993, Prof. Beckwith's book remains at the top of my recommended list for works on this highly charged subject. It is exceptionally well organized, making it useful for the layman in search of concise answers in a timely manner, as well as sufficiently thorough for those reading it from cover to cover in search of rigorous and persuasive philosophical arguments. In contrast to many other works on this topic, I believe only Beckwith succeeds on shedding "more light than heat."

The heart of the book comprises a systematic presentation and rebuttal of six classes of arguments in favor of abortion rights. It is thoroughly footnoted with specific citations, enabling further research and verification by the reader if desired. A set of appendices is included which, among other things, contains a summary of over 68 pro-choice arguments, "Choice Quotes" from noted abortion advocates, an abridged version of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Planned Parenthood v. Casey, an outstanding bibliography, and the citations for footnotes throughout the book. These appendices alone are worth the price of admission!

I highly recommend this book to those interested in mastering a solid basis for the pro-life position or those interested in engaging pro-choice advocates on their own terms.

Rating:
Summary: The Most Authoritative Pro-Life book there is!
Review: Politically Correct Death is, in my opinion, by far the most authoritative book there is on the pro-life side.

Beckwith uses clear logical arguments to show that the unborn child is a person like you and I with a full right to life. He first demonstrates that this is the critical question that must be answered before appealing to statements that assume the unborn child is a non-person. He then turns around to give his reasons why the unborn child is a person with a full right to life. Showing how his reasons fit our intuitions about what a person is perfectly, and showing where all other supposed definitions fail, and the reasoning behind why they failed. After showing this, he then demolishes all of the pro-abortion arguments that beg the question. He shows that their statements beg the question, and also sometimes showing that their data is false and, in many cases absurd. After this, the real reason this book is set apart from other books, comes into focus. He argues against those who would argue that abortion is justified even if the unborn child was a person with a full right to life. He does this with his 9 point rebuttal that leaves you absolutely sure that the pro-life side is correct.

I highly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in the topic of abortion. This book deals mainly with logical arguments against abortion. Although it has statistics supporting the pro-life side, the author does not get bogged down with them like many other pro-life books I have read. He realizes that they are irrelevant if the issue of whether the unborn child is a person or not is addressed correctly. Beckwith also adds a separate independent section that deals with whether or not abortion is biblical, for those who seem to argue for it through that route. That chapter, like all other chapters, is independent of other chapters. So for those secular investigators, it is a bonus that they do not need to take advantage of. Other reasons why this book gets very high marks, beside the obvious one for such strong logic, is because Beckwith made this book very complete. Very easy to use and understand. It answers practically every pro-abortion argument you can think of in a complete a fair manner. It also indexes them very well, making the book easy to use in a debate. It also makes each chapter independent, for those experienced readers who don't want to spend too much time on something they already know. You can skip right to your section, and it is not assumed you have read the previous chapters. I also like the way Beckwith explained the abortion legalities in the US Supreme Courts decisions. He quickly brings the reader up to speed to the current place we are in the abortion debate, with regard to the Supreme Court. He gives a great historical background, and gives suggestions on what we can do to help.

Over all, this book would get more stars than are possible in Amazon, for scoring such high marks in every area a book can, with such an important issue as this. Get this book, I guarantee you will not regret it.