Right To Life Radio | Life Report

Josh responds to an email from someone who isn't finding lots of success using economic arguments for the pro-life position. Her pro-choice friend's response is to reference "Freakonomics" and add that if the country needs more people, we should just open up the borders.

Josh responds to an email from someone who seems frustrated that Josh mis-characterized pro-life people as being uninformed about fetal development. Other topics include late-term abortions, Down Syndrome abortions, post-fertilization age vs. LMP, and the use of the term "pro-aborts."

Josh, Liz and Gabi respond to the story of a pro-choice blogger who wrote some things about sex-selection abortion that was deemed embarrassing by her pro-choice colleagues and publicly berated for it. Is there an inherent inconsistency in Laurie Penny's article? Can you be both pro-choice and opposed to legal sex-selection abortions? Should the other pro-choice bloggers have responded a different way? What does it mean to have an attitude of seeking truth? How can pro-lifers use this story to start conversations with pro-choice people? These questions and more are discussed on this episode of Life Report.

Josh, Liz and Gabi respond to a listener mail question: how much do pro-life advocates need to know about fetal development to be adequately prepared to have good conversations with lots of pro-choice people? Ultimately, the team offers two separate lists: the minimal things you NEED to know and the things that will make you an even better advocate. The team close the show by summarizing the best arguments for the humanity of the unborn and the idea that human beings are valuable in the first place.

Josh and Gabi discuss the difference between moral relativism and libertarianism, in response to a pro-choice blogger who thinks we confused the two in a recent episode about a leaked Planned Parenthood document. After defining the terms, they carefully re-analyze the document to determine the validity of the bloggers accusation.

David French is a Senior Counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a former Senior Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund. David has written multiple books and his articles have been published by the Washington Post and Washington Times, among others. He has also founded Evangelicals for Mitt. I wanted to bring David on to respond to the most common concerns that pro-life people have about voting for Romney. And that he did... Here are the questions I asked David in this interview: What do you say to Evangelicals who say that abortion is just another "social justice issue." Why should evangelical's vote for Mitt Romney? What is your response to William Saleton's lengthy piece in Slate about Romney's abortion views? Do you think that Romney has a chance of winning the election? Some people argue that Christians should just "vote their conscience" meaning vote for whichever candidate most aligns with their personal beliefs. So they usually vote third party or th

Josh, Liz and Gabi discuss the wisdom of pro-life activists choosing to compare abortion to recent tragedies like the Aurora movie theater shooting, or posting pro-life status updates every anniversary of 9/11. The Life Report team considers the toughest questions from the other side of this issue, and they end the 3-part discussion never fully agreeing on the subject. Note from Josh: Bryan Kemper from Stand True Ministries and now working for Priests for Life was one of the main instigators to this comparison that we're responding to. I consider Bryan a friend and colleague, and he is doing a lot of great and important work for the unborn. Good people can disagree on this issue, and we certainly don't pretend to be right about everything. But we DO believe this is a discussion worth having, so that whatever pro-life people decide to do in the future with their Facebook statuses, they will have at least thought about it some more first. Everything we do to end abortion should be done purposefully and thoughtf

Josh, Liz and Gabi stayed after the two episode shoot and responded to arguments for and against Bryan Kemper's picture, from both pro-life and pro-choice people. Here are the arguments we covered: "We wouldn't hesitate to make [the Aurora] comparison if it were three year olds." “It’s the 4,000 a day that are being minimized; this is a good opportunity to make the stats meaningful to people.” “Babies are dying and we should do whatever it takes to end the apathy.” “No comparisons are needed if both events are inherently wrong.” Josh tells a story about what he recently told pro-choice people that reject ALL analogies to slavery and the Holocaust. Nick on Facebook: “If [the picture] leads to the question, 'well what makes killing a born person different from killing the unborn,' than it helps advance the discussion for unborn rights. Comparing abortion to say infanticide may help make the comparison seem more apparent. Yes some people will be turned off, but people are always turned off by the pro-life me

Josh, Liz and Gabi discuss the wisdom of pro-life activists choosing to compare abortion to recent tragedies like the Aurora movie theater shooting, or posting pro-life status updates every anniversary of 9/11. The Life Report team considers the toughest questions from the other side of this issue, and they end the 3-part discussion never fully agreeing on the subject. Note from Josh: Bryan Kemper from Stand True Ministries and now working for Priests for Life was one of the main instigators to this comparison that we're responding to. I consider Bryan a friend and colleague, and he is doing a lot of great and important work for the unborn. Good people can disagree on this issue, and we certainly don't pretend to be right about everything. But we DO believe this is a discussion worth having, so that whatever pro-life people decide to do in the future with their Facebook statuses, they will have at least thought about it some more first. Everything we do to end abortion should be done purposefully and thoughtf

Josh, Liz and Gabi react to a leaked Planned Parenthood document that trains their volunteers to purposefully have bad dialogues with pro-life people. A stark contrast is made between the kind of dialogue that Planned Parenthood wants us to have, and the kind of dialogue we've been training people to have on this show. There are also some insights that can be made on the way Planned Parenthood directors think based on things that are said in this document.

Josh explains a relatively new app we're using on our facebook fan page to reward our most active fans. In the past we've been rewarding with free pro-life books. Future rewards to include pro-life clothing and exclusive Life Report audio.

Josh responds to a listener mail question about a pregnant Chinese immigrant Bei Bei Shuai who attempted suicide and in the process, her baby died. She is now being charged with feticide, and pro-choice advocates are talking about this story all over the country. Josh clears up a common misconception among pro-lifers about Roe vs. Wade and the Laci Peterson Law, and offers a thought experiment to defend why perhaps this woman should be charged with something. Josh claimed that most 26-week premies survive. This is based on a premie survival rate based on stats from March of Dimes. According to MOD, 80-90% of 26-week premies ultimately survive. Bei Bei Shuai's baby at 33 weeks almost certainly would have lived.

Josh responds to a listener who believes she found a flaw in Trent Horn's definition of personhood. Luckily, she just misunderstood Trent's definition, and strongly oversimplified it. Josh explains why and recommends some good books on the substance view of persons.

Josh Brahm responds to a listener who disagrees with a recent Life Report episode on voting principles, featuring Scott Klusendorf and Jonathan Keller. The listener thinks we need to use long-term strategy when voting, like chess.

Josh, Liz and Life Report's newest co-host, Gabi Vehrs, discusses that "after-birth abortion" article, including how many pro-life people responded to it, as well as a refutation of the underlying premise in the article.

Trent Horn is back in studio for one more episode, to discuss logical fallacies that both pro-life and pro-choice advocates make. What is logic? How do arguments work? What are fallacies? What are the most common fallacies that pro-choice advocates make? What are the most common fallacies that pro-life advocates make? Most people know that an ad hominem is a fallacy, but they aren’t sure how to describe it or refute it. How do you refute ad hominems? What are some fallacies that people may not recognize but are very common? How can we graciously explain to someone that they are relying on a logical fallacy? Isn't it more important to focus on emotional relationships and not just on who has the best argument? Are there any books you recommend on how to argue and spot fallacies? Trent talked about a few faulty pro-life arguments in this episode. This is actually a common topic on our show. Click here for more faulty pro-life arguments: http://prolifepodcast.net/tag/faulty-pro-life-arguments/ Watch other Life

Josh responds to a listener mail question asking whether the potential health benefits a mother receives during pregnancy negate bodily rights arguments. Check out other resources on bodily rights arguments here: http://prolifepodcast.net/tag/bodily-rights

Josh talks about the recent improvements to the functionality of the Life Report website, (ProLifePodcast.net) as well as some changes to how we're responding to listener mail now.

It's Life Report's 150th episode, and Trent Horn is back in studio to discuss how pro-lifers should respond when their discussion of abortion gets down to the "metaphysical basement:" why are human beings valuable in the first place?  Why should pro-lifers be concerned with answering the question “Why do humans matter?” How do pro-life advocates often answer the question? The imago dei is probably the most controversial or least understood reason, how do you understand this reason? Why shouldn't pro-lifers just quote Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1:5 and similar verses to pro-choice people? Can abortion be considered immoral even without reference to God? What do you do if a pro-choice advocate says that you’re imposing your religion on everyone else? Are there some inherent problems with Don Marquis' "future like ours" argument? Trent Horn is the Coordinator of Respect Life Leadership Support at the Diocese of Phoenix. To learn more about Trent, visit DiocesePhoenix.org. Watch other Life Report episodes with him at 

Trent Horn begins the show with a discussion of what a philosophy is (and isn't) and talks about why pro-life advocates need to study the discipline of philosophy. Issues Trent touches on that need philosophical reflection include: Why is killing wrong? What is a person? Do people have a right to control their own bodies? Are morals relative or objective? Trent then surveys the major philosophical contributions to these issues. (Singer, Marquis, Warren, Thomson, Finnis, Noonan, Schwartz, Beckwith, Kaczor, Tooley.) Finally, he shares how understanding philosophy has helped him have gracious conversations with pro-choice advocates. Trent Horn is the Coordinator of Respect Life Leadership Support at the Diocese of Phoenix. To learn more about Trent, visit DiocesePhoenix.org.