The abortion-on-demand crowd is slowly losing the argument, and they’re tossing up every nonsensical argument they can think of in the hope that something will work.
On June 11, Alternate posted an article by Planned Parenthood-honored psychologist Valerie Tarico. In an article titled “What the Unborn and the Undead Have in Common,” Tarico explored the so called similarities between zombies and unborn babies in an attempt to brand the pro-life argument as “magical.”
Tarico’s central argument was that personhood is based on thought, so “In the beginning stages of gestation, a human embryo or fetus has no more qualities of personhood than a zombie.”
“We don’t really care about how many zombies die” according to Tarico, because they “can’t think.” And so it logically follows that we should not care about the 59 million babies aborted since 1973.
Tarico thought this macabre comparison illustrated that pro-life arguments are based on fantastical beliefs. “Religious opposition to abortion is based on a kind of magical thinking much like that in zombie stories—the idea that human bodies can be animated by some supernatural force.”
So let’s talk about real magical thinking. First of all, since Tarico was so big on brain activity defining personhood, it’s interesting that she forgot to mention that a baby’s brain is developed by 8 weeks and that by 14-16 weeks it responds to external stimuli.
Second, she whimsically passed by the concept of DNA when ridiculing the argument about personhood starting at conception. As is scientifically known, the embryo contains a complete set of DNA, distinct from both the father and the mother, which consists of the makeup of a unique person, including his or her brain. Though she may try to debunk the heartbeat argument by mentioning that “all mammals have hearts,” she cannot even attempt to compare a baby’s DNA to the “magical force” of a zombie.
In addition, Tarcio just glossed by the argument that since the embryo has the potential to think it should not be aborted. She simply says the people who hold that position argue “wrongly.” Perhaps she did not consider someone in a coma. They are not thinking and only have the potential to think. Does that give anyone the right to kill them? (Sadly, Tarico and other progressives would probably say yes.)
Tarico has a history of making provocative claims based on little research or insight. Some previous pieces of hers included claiming that God raped Mary and that Orcas have abortions just like humans.
Though she claims unborn babies can’t think, with her ignorant comments and gross comparisons, one wonders whether Tarico thinks clearly herself.
