Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

​Facing the Unborn

From the Aug/Sept 2015 Print Edition

An ultrasound video of an unborn child sucking its thumb makes a case against abortion that reason hardly need supplement. But a zygote photographed just after an in vitro conception is not so easily recognizable as a human being or person. Pro-lifers often assume that this difficulty has been . . . . Continue Reading »

Reforming the Pro-Choice Market

From Web Exclusives

Some pro-life leaders have advocated repeal of “Obamacare,” because it requires the public in various ways to fund abortion. Although I agree with their assessment of the law, I disagree with their proposed remedy. The pro-life cause would be far better served to keep the current law, provided Continue Reading »

Stith: Arguing with Pro-Choicers

From Web Exclusives

Why do many pro-choice people find our arguments against early abortion not just unconvincing but absurd? Consider, for example, the ridicule that the defense of human embryos sometimes draws. In order to have any hope of winning the debate, defenders of unborn life must understand how an argument . . . . Continue Reading »

Nominal Babies

From the February 1999 Print Edition

In its famous 1973 decision Roe v. Wade , the United States Supreme Court mandated elective abortion up to viability, and abortion for broadly defined “health” reasons (i.e., virtually elective abortion) thereafter. That opinion contains a deep contradiction that can be understood as a . . . . Continue Reading »