Scott Klusendorf in The Case For Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture (Crossway, 2023) compares the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade to Dunkirk in WWII. He notes that Churchill advised his fellow British citizens not to mistake the miraculous withdrawal of the English army fromDunkirk for a victory: the murderous Hitler regime still controlled the continent of Europe. Likewise, Klusendorf points out that every time abortion has been put to a public vote since the court’s decision, the pro-life position has lost. The fight for the protection of the unborn is an ongoing battle for minds and hearts. The Case for Life provides the intellectual mobilization for this battle.
The current version of The Case for Life, printed in 2023, is a revision of the original version published in 2009 that is updated to include the impact of the Supreme Court decision. In this work, Klusendorf provides cogent responses to each objection to the pro-life position and discusses the logical inadequacy of the pro-abortion position. The book pulls back the curtain to revealthe full impact of a culture permitting and celebrating abortion: in the process, morality, equality, and the very meaning of humanity must be discarded. One gains a deep sense throughthis reading of how important the abortion debate is to our civilization.
Although the content is scholarly, Klusendorf’s straight-forward style lays out his points in systematic, plain languagewith generous use of helpful examples. Underlying his logic is a simple syllogism—a conclusion drawn from two given propositions:
- It is wrong to intentionally kill an innocent human being.
- Abortion intentionally kills an innocent human being.
- Therefore, abortion is morally wrong.
Every term used is important: moral, innocent, intentional, and, in particular, human being.
Klusendorf builds a definition of “human being” from the science of biology. References to accepted texts on embryology and quotes from leaders in the field establish that human life begins at conception. The zygote, consisting of the fusion of the sperm and egg, is a highly specialized cell known as a totipotent—a cell capable of giving rise to any cell type. From the start, this new entity directs its own internal development with its own chromosomal structure.
Klusendorf addresses a recurring claim about the embryo or fetus: that it is merely a “lump of cells” like some piece of skin tissue or fragment of an organ. The embryo has the inherent capacity to develop into a fetus, infant, toddler, teenager, and adult. The embryo is simply an immature human being. After conception, the path of development from embryo to adult is continuous. To claim there is an ontological change—a big word meaning “state of being”— anywhere along that path that converts the individual into a human is contrived and arbitrary.
Klusendorf uses an argument called “trot out your toddler” to evaluate any unanswered question about the morality of abortion. Ask if the argument justifying abortion would also apply to killing a toddler. If not, there are two conclusions. Human life as represented in the toddler is inherently valuable and it is morally wrong to intentionally kill the innocent. Second, the abortion justification assumes the unborn are not fully human.
Abortion arguments disavow either the humanity or the personhood of the unborn. If the unborn is not a human being, or a person, then killing them is of no consequence. Klusendorf explains that abortion justifications use variations of a performance standard, that is, something the embryo or fetus doesn’t have or cannot do. Klusendorf covers the waterfront of these theories and provides point by point refutations.
The most disturbing theory, in my opinion, is author David Boonin’s claim that just because the fetus is the same species as an adult does not establish its right to life. Instead, the right to life comes with brain activity that is capable of supporting a desire for something. According to Boonin, this happens sometime between twenty-five and thirty-two weeks after conception. It is a totally arbitrary, made-up standard.
Perhaps to certify his intellectual integrity, Boonin states it would have been morally permissible to kill his own son, now a healthy, happy child, when he was at this stage of development. When I first read his statement I thought it was a misprint. The coldness of the abortion justifiers is stunning. Many admit that their justifications for killing the unborn would also justify infanticide and euthanasia.
Klusendorf points out that using a performance standard to determine humanity undercuts equality. We are all different in many ways. If we are not endowed with humanity, that is, if unique and universal value is not intrinsic to the human species, then some made-up criteria can be used to undermine any group. Indeed, this was the logic used to enslave Africans.
The woman’s right to make decisions about her body is popularly used to justify abortion. Klusendorf explains that such arguments include theories that the fetus is an invader to the woman’s body and she has the right to expel it. Under this perspective, motherhood must be voluntary. Klusendorf asks if it is morally permissible for a mother to refuse to nurse hernewborn under the claim “my body, my choice?” Does an eight inch trip down the birth canal really make the fetus different from a newborn in regard to the obligation to provide sustenance?
In the manner outlined above, Klusendorf systematically addresses issues related to stem cell research, cloning, IVF, miscarriage, illegal abortions, and hard cases such as pregnancies resulting from rape.
Klusendorf outlines how worldviews got our society into such a callous view of life. Klusendorf discusses the logical weakness of each of these worldviews.
- Naturalism disputes there is a Creator God. Man is just a product of a random and irrational universe. If his values are just random firings of synapses in his brain, it is difficult to ground morality.
- Postmodernism states that objective reality cannot be known. All we have are perspectives. And so we are left with no absolute truth; everything is relative.
- Critical Theory is a Marxist-rooted theory about social justice. It basically puts everyone in groups pitted against each other: oppressed and oppressor. Combined with race it claims that entire civilizations are infected with intrinsic racism that favors Whites. Marriage, capitalism,and opposition to abortion are all oppressive.
Finally, Klusendorf discusses Theism which holds that truth and human value are grounded in the character of a holy God and can be known objectively. Human beings have intrinsic value because they are made by God, in the image of God. Killing the innocent is offensive to God.
The book concludes on how the fight for life should be fought and how it can be won.
I found The Case for Life to be a profound and reasoned approach to one of the deepest controversies of our time. The underpinning of abortion by secular worldviews and its undermining of equality among men were surprising and enlightening. I came away with an ability to argue my beliefs from logic rather than emotion.
I strongly recommend Scott Klusendorf’s The Case for Life for anyone concerned about life, truth, and equality.
Editor’s Note: This title was received by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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