Pro-Life Resource Index - Abortion Arguments & Dialogue

The ERI Index is a comprehensive, categorized library of pro-life resources, including blog posts, podcasts, and videos, covering every major topic in the abortion debate. Whether you’re preparing for a campus outreach, navigating a difficult conversation, or deepening your understanding of the arguments, our index is designed to help you find exactly what you need! Looking for a short-form video instead? Check out our Reels Index for quick explainers on the most common pro-choice arguments!

Resources

Personhood of the embryo/fetus

1.1 The Equal Rights Argument

1.1.1 The argument itself
Arguing From Equality: The Personhood of Human Embryos
What is a Human Conscious Experience and Do All Conscious Humans Have It?: A Reply to Destiny’s View of Personhood
Three Mistakes to Avoid in the Equal Rights Argument
The Rational Nature Argument for Equal Treatment
Responding To “The Embryo Isn’t a Person” (YouTube)
Pro-Life Apologetics: The Equal Rights Argument (YouTube)

1.1.2 Objections to the argument
Why Viability Is the Least Plausible Definition of Personhood
Human-Plus Arguments (audio)
Responding To “You Need to Be Human Plus Something Else to Have Personhood” (YouTube)
How important is consciousness? (Instagram)

1.2 Does the value of the embryo/fetus increase over time? (Gradualism)
Responding To “An Acorn is Not an Oak Tree, so a Fetus is Not a Child” (YouTube)

1.3 Pinpointing moral inconsistencies
Abortion and Moral Culpability
What If Abortion Weren’t a Possible Choice?
Wishing a Happy Father’s Day During Pregnancy
Four Practical Tips for Responding to the Burning Fertility Clinic (blog, audio)
The Immorality of Harming an Unaware Victim (podcast)
The Burning Fertility Clinic Thought Experiment (YouTube)
Responding To “If Abortion is Murder, Then [x] Is Also Wrong” (YouTube)

1.4 The future of the fetus
Evaluating Don Marquis’ Future of Value Argument (podcast)
Do Fetuses Only Have Value if They Have a Future? (podcast)

Bodily autonomy

2.1 A woman’s body as her sovereign zone
Autumn in the Sovereign Zone: Why “It’s My Body, I Can Do What I Want” Won’t Do
Bodily Rights Arguments Necessitate Extremism (blog, audio)
Abortion Is Birth Control
Parthood, Personhood, and Bodily Rights
Responding To “My Body, My Choice—A Woman’s Body Is Her Sovereign Zone” (YouTube)

2.2 The right to refuse
It Is Wrong to Make People Worse Off: Bodily Autonomy, Abortion, and Forced Organ Donation
Is Consent to Sex Consent to Pregnancy? A Reply to Boonin’s Argument from Social Conventions
Fine-Tuning the Responsibility Objection: A Reply to David Boonin
A Response to the Car Crash Analogy
“My Body, My Choice”: Abortion, Covid Mandates, and Common Ground
Pro-Lifers Aren’t “Forcing” Women to Stay Pregnant (blog, audio)
Why Even Thomson’s Violinist Condemns Planned Parenthood’s Selling Baby Parts (blog, audio)
Is Consent to Sex Consent to Pregnancy? (podcast)
Responding To “Women Have the Right to Refuse the Use of Their Bodies”—The Violinist Argument (YouTube)
Blood Donation and Bodily Rights Arguments (YouTube)
Responding To “Banning Abortion Forces Women to Stay Pregnant” (YouTube)
Responding To “Consent to Sex Is Not Consent to Pregnancy (YouTube)

2.3 Common ground and bad pro-life responses to bodily autonomy arguments
Compassion and Common Ground
Matt Walsh and Bodily Autonomy Arguments
Two Bad Pro-Life Responses to Bodily Rights Arguments (blog, audio)
Fellow Pro-Lifers: Please Stop Sharing This Straw Man Meme (blog, audio)

Worldviews/ethical presuppositions that shape the conversation

3.1 Utilitarianism
What to Do When the Utilitarian Bites the Bullet
Listener Mail, Freakonomics & Utilitarianism (podcast)

3.2 Moral relativism
Relating to Relativists
Will Smith’s Indefensible Moral Relativism (blog, audio)

3.3 Parthood
Are The Unborn A Part Of The Mother?

3.4 Scientism
Scientism: the Self-Refuting Argument that has Contaminated Abortion Dialogue
The Limitations of Science in the Abortion Debate: Why You Need Philosophy
Scientism is Not Only Self-Refuting, but Dangerous

4 Other pro-choice concerns

4.1 Best choice for the mother?

“Reproductive Freedom”: Another Pro-Choice Non-Argument
Stop Using “Trust Women” as an Abortion Trump Card
Refuting Pro-Choice Memes
Refuting “Abortion as Self-Defense” (blog, YouTube)
Logical conclusion of the right to have sex (blog, audio)
Is Abortion Justified by an Inalienable Right to Sex? (blog, audio)
Responding to “Back-Alley” Abortion Arguments (podcast)
Responding To “Abortion Is Necessary for Women’s Equality” (YouTube)
Responding To The Concern of Back-Alley Abortions (YouTube)
Responding To “Women Shouldn’t Be Stuck When Fathers Get Away” (YouTube)

4.2 Privacy
“Abortion is Healthcare”: A Misogynistic Non-Argument
Responding To “Abortion Is a Private Health Care Decision” (YouTube)
6 Tips for Responding To “I Wouldn’t Personally Have an Abortion, but…” (YouTube)

4.3 Best choice for the child?
The Foster Care Fallacy
When Is Abortion Fetal Euthanasia In Disguise?
Responding To “Abortion is More Humane for Children with Disabilities” (YouTube)
Responding To “Every Child Should be a Wanted Child” (YouTube)
Responding To “We Need Abortion Because of the Foster Care System” (YouTube)
Responding To “We Need Broad Abortion Access for Cases of Poor Prenatal Diagnosis” (YouTube)

4.4 Best choice for society?

4.4.1 General arguments
Overpopulation Can’t Justify Abortion
Thanos Would Be Pro-Choice
Listener Mail: Freakonomics (audio)
Listener Mail, Freakonomics & Utilitarianism (podcast)
Responding To “Legislate Against Poverty, not Abortion” (YouTube)
Responding To “The World Is Overpopulated, So We Need Abortion” (YouTube)

4.4.2 Abortion as the wrong issue to focus on
Responding To “More Birth Control Will Eliminate the Need for Abortion” (YouTube)
Responding To “Banning Abortion Won’t Stop Abortions” (YouTube)

4.5 Criticisms of pro-lifers
Responding to the Slogan “Don’t Like Abortion? Don’t Have One!”
But You’re a Privileged White Woman!
I Don’t Care What You Call Me: Responding to “Anti-Choice”
“Inconsistent” is Different Than “Wrong”
Responding to the Astute Observation That I Am a Man (blog, audio)
Responding To “Men Shouldn’t Talk About Abortion” (YouTube)
Responding To “Pro-Life People Are Just Pro-Birth” (YouTube)
Responding To “People Are Just Pro-Life Because They’re Religious” (YouTube)
Responding To “If Pro-Lifers Were REALLY Pro-Life…” (YouTube)

5 The hard cases for both sides

5.1 Rape
Responding to the Question of Rape with Wisdom and Compassion (blog, audio)
Responding To “We Need Broad Abortion Access for Rape Cases” (YouTube)

5.2 Life of the mother
Abortion and Medical Necessity: Improving the Pro-Life Approach
What If the Mother’s Life Is at Risk? (audio)
Responding To “We Need Broad Abortion Access for Maternal Mortality” (YouTube)

5.3 Eugenics and euthanasia
When Is Abortion Fetal Euthanasia In Disguise?
Responding To “Abortion is More Humane for Children with Disabilities” (YouTube)
Responding To “We Need Broad Abortion Access for Cases of Poor Prenatal Diagnosis” (YouTube)

5.4 Late-term abortion
Most late-term abortions are on healthy fetuses (Instagram)

6 Biology and healthcare

6.1 The biological reality of the embryo/fetus

6.1.1 Life starting at fertilization
Why periods are morally inconsequential (Instagram)
Embryos and fetuses meet the scientific requirements for life (Instagram)
Embryos and fetuses have organic unity (Instagram)

6.1.2 The human nature of the unborn
Responding To “The Embryo Isn’t Human” (YouTube)
Responding To “The Fetus Is a Parasite” (YouTube)
10 scientific reasons why the fetus is not a parasite (Instagram)
The RhoGAM shot does not prove fetuses are parasites (Instagram)
Calling fetuses parasites pathologizes pregnant women (Instagram)

6.2 Physical health impacts of abortion and childbirth on the mother
Abortion and Medical Necessity: Improving the Pro-Life Approach
Should We Care Whether Abortion Affects Fertility and Future Pregnancy Outcomes?
What’s Magical About Abortion Pills?
Is Abortion 14 Times Safer Than Childbirth? (blog, YouTube)
Abortion Pill Reversal (audio, podcast)

6.3 What happens during an abortion?
Pro-Choice Is Pro-Violence
Selective Reduction: Abortion by Another Name
“Missed-Period Pills”: An Ethical Nightmare
When Is Abortion Fetal Euthanasia In Disguise?
Abortion Is Birth Control
Defining the Word “Abortion” Will Change Your Dialogues (with Dank Pro-Life Memes) (podcast)

7 Dialogue virtues and informed pro-life opinions

7.1 Framing dialogue appropriately
The Duality of Abortion: Simple and Complex
Can We Use Dialogue To Reach Moral Agreement?
Let’s Talk About Disagreeing With Each Other
No One Thinks What They Believe Is Evil (blog, audio)

7.2 Humility
On Being Wrong
Avoiding Arrogance (blog, audio)
On Virtue-Signaling (blog, audio)

7.3 Gentleness and kindness
Humanize the Pro-Life Position—“Come Out” as Pro-Life
Striking The Balance Between Aggression And Timidity
Does Your Image Need a Face-Lift?
Don’t Call People Animals (blog, audio)
Should Pro-Lifers be Snarky? (with Dank Pro-Life Memes) (podcast)

7.4 Debates and fallacies
Don’t Come Across Like You’ve Taken an Apologetics Course
Debate vs. Dialogue: How Do They Differ?
The Best Way to Expose Logical Fallacies: Don’t Call Them By Name (blog, audio)
You Should Know What a Logical Fallacy Actually Is (blog, audio)
Ben Shapiro’s Response to Abortion in the Case of Rape (blog, audio)
A Mental Health Counselor on Psychology in Debate (with Robin Atkins) (podcast)

7.5 Empathy
Are We Afraid of the Truth?
When a Hypothetical Story Isn’t Hypothetical After All (blog, audio)
Sometimes It’s Not about the Argument (blog, audio)
4 Steps to Taking Your Empathy to the Next Level (podcast)

7.6 Managing anger and frustration
Dialogue Tip: Tell Them That They Can’t Offend You (blog, audio)
How to Respond to Pro-Choice Dishonesty

7.7 Shaping opinions well

7.7.1 Avoiding faulty lines of reasoning
Personal Experiences Don’t Prove Anything
How Your Brain Tricks You into Thinking the Other Side Is Stupid
Fetus Tunnel Vision: 4 Reasons Pro-Lifers Need to Stop Doing This
Responding to concerns regarding my “Fetus Tunnel Vision” piece
How Should Pro-Lifers Think About Post-Abortive Shame? (blog, audio)
The Problems with Results-Based Reasoning (audio)
Follow-Up Questions About the Results-Oriented Episode (audio)
To What Extent Should the Pro-Life Movement Focus on Abortion? (audio, podcast)
One Easy Step to Avoiding Confirmation Bias: Interview with Tangle Founder Isaac Saul (podcast)
Questions About Confirmation Bias (podcast)
Intellectual Honesty, Transparency, and the Pro-Life Movement (with Apologist Dr. Randal Rauser) (podcast)

7.7.2 Opinion pieces for you to consider
Undercover at an Abortion Clinic While 28-Weeks Pregnant (with Secular Pro-Life’s Monica Snyder) (podcast)
A Different Perspective: Adoption vs. Foster Care vs. Abortion (podcast)

8 Outreach and grassroot events

8.1 Outreach stories
Abortion Dialogue on Campus: Outreach Stories and Trends – Part 2 (podcast)
Abortion Dialogue on Campus: Outreach Stories and Trends – Part 1 (podcast)
Behind-the-Scenes: Emily Discusses Abortion With NARAL President on MSNBC (podcast)
How One Club Changed Their Campus (Extended Interview with Emily Albrecht) (podcast)
How One Student Group Radically Changed Their Campus Culture (YouTube)

8.2 Communication materials at outreach

8.2.1 General materials
My First Pro-life Display Was a Flop
March for Life Signs: The Bad and the Ugly
A Simple Change That Instantly Communicates a Nuanced Approach to the Abortion Debate (blog, audio)
8.2.2 On fetal images
Our Experience at the OMSI Prenatal Exhibit Displaying Real Preserved Children (blog, audio)
Abortion Images: A Case for Disagreement without Division (blog, audio)

8.3 Planning a great outreach
It’s Important to End Your Outreach Well. Here’s How.
10 Practical Tips for Leading a Campus Outreach (blog, audio)
Dealing with Discouragement at Outreach (audio, podcast)

8.4 Responding to censorship and protests
How Should Conservatives Respond to the Disturbing Trend of Campus Censorship?
Six Ways I’ve Seen Pro-Choice People Try to Censor Pro-Lifers (blog, audio)
Dealing with a Hostile Campus as a Pro-Life Club (podcast)
How Josh Should Have Dealt with a Hostile Audience in Canada (podcast)

9 Dialogue techniques to change minds

9.1 What to do (and not do) in every dialogue

9.1.1 General tips
How to Find Underlying Assumptions in Dialogue about Abortion
4 Tips for Changing More Minds
Four Practical Dialogue Tips from My Conversation with Brent
Four Lessons From My First Conversation About Abortion
How to Avoid Two Extremes of Pro-Life Advocacy
Don’t Blindly Use Statistics in Dialogue
Avoiding Unnecessary Tangents During Dialogue
Gaining Clarity On The Person’s Position
Avoiding an Embarrassingly Common Pro-Life Mistake
The Best Way to Expose Logical Fallacies: Don’t Call Them By Name (blog, audio)
Be Open to Letting the Conversation Change Topics (blog, audio)
Dialogue Tip: Tell Them That They Can’t Offend You (blog, audio)
Let People Pause And Think (blog, audio)
Make Small Agreements On How The Conversation Will Go (blog, audio)
Recognizing the Root Problem (blog, audio)
How to Dialogue with “Crazy Extremists”: Three Lessons I Learned from Teaching Philosophy (YouTube)
Don’t Make Arguments with Question Marks (YouTube)

9.1.2 Using language carefully
Using the word “Fetus”
Using the Word “Abortionist”
Using the Word “Pro-Choice” (blog, audio)

9.1.3 Building a relationship
Building Rapport with a Benevolent Dictator (blog, audio)
Humor in Dialogue (audio, podcast)
Relational Apologetics – Part 1 (audio)
Relational Apologetics – Part 2 (audio)
Relational Apologetics Part 1: Personal Stories and Reflections (podcast)
Relational Apologetics Part 2: Arguments and 12 Practical Tips (podcast)
A Comedian Shares Tips for Using Humor in Dialogue (podcast)

9.1.4 The psychology of persuasion
What New Research Tells Us About Persuasion (podcast)
The Psychology of Persuasion (with Secular Pro-Life’s Monica Snyder) (podcast)

9.2 What to do in specific situations

9.2.1 In-person conversations
When You Need To Use A Pro-Life “Elevator Pitch”
Prenatal Diagnosis: What Do I Say?
When The Pro-Lifer Has “Never Thought Of That”
Responding to an Unorthodox Worldview that Justifies Abortion
When The Pro-Choicer Offers a Thought Experiment
When The Pro-Choicer Is Rude Or Aggressive
Removing/adding people to group conversations when it’s a sensitive topic (blog, audio)
When and How You Should End Unproductive Conversations (blog, audio)
How to Turn the Tables on Four Unfair Pro-Choice Arguments (blog, audio)
Three Tips for Dealing with Someone Who Name-Drops Philosophers (blog, audio)
What To Say To Someone Who Says “I Wish I Had Been Aborted” (blog, audio)
On Shifting the Burden of Proof (audio, podcast)
When The Pro-Choicer Changes Their Opinion Mid-Conversation (audio)
Responding to the Question of Rape 201 (audio)
When They Bite the Bullet – Part 1 (audio)
When They Bite the Bullet – Part 2 (audio)
When They Bite the Bullet – Part 3 (audio)
When They Bite the Bullet (podcast)
When They Ask About Rape (podcast)
Responding to People Who Say “I’m Just Not Persuaded” (YouTube)
When Someone Asks For Sources For Basic Facts (Sealioning) (YouTube)

9.3 Dialoguing with specific groups of people

9.3.1 Unproductive pro-lifers
Abortion Abolitionists
Responding to 8 Types of Difficult Pro-Lifers (with Monica Snyder & Andrew Kaake – Part 1) (podcast)
Responding to 8 Types of Difficult Pro-Lifers (with Monica Snyder & Andrew Kaake – Part 2) (podcast)
AHA: The Anti-Abortionists Who Fight Other Pro-Lifers (with Jonathon Van Maren – Part 1) (podcast)
AHA Fails to Understand Pro-Life History (with Jonathon Van Maren – Part 2) (podcast)

9.3.2 Family and friends
7 Things Every Pro-Life Advocate Needs to Know Before the Holidays
7 Tips for Handling a Forced Political Debate at the Holiday Dinner Table
Six Abortion Conversation Starters
Relational Apologetics Tips: How to Cultivate Friendship Amidst Challenging Conversations

9.3.3 Post-abortive women
Pay Attention to Who Should NOT Be in a Given Conversation
Practical Tips for Talking with Post-Abortive Women (podcast)

9.3.4 Feminists
How Should We Respond to Angry Feminists? (audio, podcast)

9.3.5 Abortion practitioners
9 Things I Would Ask an Abortion Practitioner Over Coffee (blog, audio)

9.4 Stories of real dialogues
The Anatomy of a Pro-Life Conversation
6 Tactics That Helped Me Have a Productive Conversation with Three Mormon Missionaries (blog, audio)
Four Practical Dialogue Tips from My Conversation with Brent (blog, audio)
The Biology Professor Who Hated Our Outreach Exhibit (blog, audio)
ERI Staff Discuss Their Most Common Dialogue Mistakes – Part 1 (podcast)
ERI Staff Discuss Their Most Common Dialogue Mistakes – Part 2 (podcast)
Emily’s First Outreach Mistakes (part 1) (podcast)
Emily’s First Dialogue Mistake (part 2) (podcast)

9.5 Mock dialogue examples
MOCK DEBATE: Who Are You to Say What a Woman Can’t Do with Her Own Body? (podcast)
Example Dialogues – Pro-Life Rachel & Pro-Choice Tim (audio, podcast)
Example Dialogues – Pro-Life Josh & Pro-Choice Tim (audio, podcast)
Example Dialogues – Pro-Life Tim and Pro-Choice Rachel (audio, podcast)