{"id":163992,"date":"2017-03-18T10:45:25","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T14:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=163992"},"modified":"2017-03-20T10:50:01","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T14:50:01","slug":"sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Sorry, Tomi: You can’t compare guns to abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Controversial conservative personality Tomi Lahren appeared on talk show The View<\/em>\u00a0on Friday. The panel discussed various political topics with Lahren, but what raised the most eyebrows was the conversation about abortion. Surprisingly, Lahren declared herself<\/a>\u00a0“pro-choice.”\u00a0And her reasoning was rather odd.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m pro-choice, and here\u2019s why,” she said. “I am a constitutional, y\u2019know, someone that loves the Constitution. I\u2019m someone that\u2019s for limited government. So I can\u2019t sit here and be a hypocrite and say I\u2019m for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies. I can sit here and say that, as a Republican and I can say, you know what, I\u2019m for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well[.]”<\/p>\n

The audience cheered as she said that. But there are inherent problems with her argument, including that women should be able to do what they want with their own bodies. See, preborn babies are not extensions of their mothers’ bodies; they’re not a temporary organ that can be removed, like an appendix. Preborn children are completely separate living human beings, so a mother having an abortion is not doing what she wants with “her own body.”<\/p>\n

Science has made it very clear that preborn children are human beings<\/a>, not clumps of cells or globs of tissue. And this includes at the earliest level of development. Just 21 days after conception, in many cases before the mother even knows she is pregnant, the baby’s heart is already beating. (Recent scientific research indicates our hearts may begin beating as early as 16 days<\/a>.) By six and a half\u00a0weeks, brain waves can be measured, and by 10 weeks, the baby has her own unique fingerprints<\/a>; if the baby is a girl, she already has her own ovaries and womb. It’s also quite clear that, scientifically, life begins at fertilization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A quote from James Bopp in Human Life and Health Care Ethics, Vol. 2<\/em> explains this clearly:<\/p>\n

The first cell of a new and unique human life begins existence at the moment of conception (fertilization) when one living sperm from the father joins with one living ovum from the mother. It is in this manner that human life passes from one generation to another. Given the appropriate environment and genetic composition, the single cell subsequently gives rise to trillions of specialized and integrated cells that compose the structures and functions of each individual human body.<\/p>\n

Every human being alive today and, as far as is known scientifically, every human being that ever existed, began his or her unique existence in this manner, i.e., as one cell. If this first cell or any subsequent configuration of cells perishes, the individual dies, ceasing to exist in matter as a living being. There are no known exceptions to this rule in the field of human biology.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And while Lahren talks about how she’s a “constitutional,” she fails to mention the very first right protected in the Declaration of Independence when this country was formed: the right to life<\/em>. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution says that a state cannot “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Yet this is exactly what abortion does; it deprives preborn persons of their right to life. You would think Lahren, as a “constitutional,” would understand this. You would think she would understand that one of the only fundamental duties of a constitutional government is to protect life.<\/p>\n

Of course, as Adam Peters pointed out for Live Action News, there is actually no mention of a right to abortion<\/a> in the Constitution at all; in fact, Justice Harry Blackmun, who wrote the majority opinion for Roe v. Wade<\/em>, argued that if a fetus is proven to be a person, then he\u00a0also has the right to life, just like born persons.<\/p>\n

The appellee and certain amici argue that the fetus is a \u201cperson\u201d within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant\u2019s case, of course, collapses, for the fetus\u2019 right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment. The appellant conceded as much on reargument.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It could be argued that, when Roe v. Wade<\/em> was decided, science did not allow us to truly understand the humanity of preborn children. But that has changed; there is no doubt that preborn babies are separate, living human beings. And while Roe v. Wade<\/em> was decided\u00a0under the right to “privacy,” as there is no right to abortion in the Constitution, there is likewise no right to privacy mentioned, either.<\/p>\n

On top of all this, it can’t be argued that you have to support abortion if you support gun rights. As D.C. McAllister argued<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Being pro-life and pro legal gun possession are not mutually exclusive nor are they at odds with one another. In fact, they are morally, legally, and ideologically intertwined, working in tandem to protect innocent lives, in different ways, both offensively and defensively.<\/p>\n

Without the right to defend oneself with force, law-abiding Americans would be as defenseless as a newborn\u2014incapable of defending themselves, looking only to the state to prevent harm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Literally every facet of Lahren’s argument falls apart with even a tiny bit of rational thinking.<\/p>\n

Oddly, just weeks ago, Lahren was tweeting about the need to protect preborn children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

You want the choice to abort a fetus but what about school choice? ????https:\/\/t.co\/lClaV4cTxp<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) February 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Life comes at you fast. pic.twitter.com\/AP09UPGtPy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Danielle Butcher (@DaniSButcher) March 17, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What made Lahren decide that she wanted to flip-flop on the issue of abortion is unclear, but whatever her reasoning was, her argument in favor of abortion is fundamentally flawed and shows an astoundingly shallow understanding of the issue. If Lahren really wants to claim that she\u00a0loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that\u00a0all<\/em> people\u2014preborn and born\u2014have the right to life and deserve to be protected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Controversial conservative personality Tomi Lahren appeared on talk show The View\u00a0on Friday. The panel discussed various political topics with Lahren, but what raised the most eyebrows was the conversation about abortion. Surprisingly, Lahren declared herself\u00a0“pro-choice.”\u00a0And her reasoning was rather odd. “I\u2019m pro-choice, and here\u2019s why,” she said. “I am a constitutional, y\u2019know, someone that loves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":163998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3,9459],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSorry, Tomi: You can't compare guns to abortion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If Lahren wants to claim that she loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that all people -- preborn and born -- deserve to be protected.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sorry, Tomi: You can't compare guns to abortion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If Lahren wants to claim that she loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that all people -- preborn and born -- deserve to be protected.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-18T14:45:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-20T14:50:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tomi-Lahren-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"546\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Sorry, Tomi: You can’t compare guns to abortion\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-18T14:45:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-20T14:50:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\"},\"wordCount\":1051,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\",\"Top Story on Homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\",\"name\":\"Sorry, Tomi: You can't compare guns to abortion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-18T14:45:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-20T14:50:01+00:00\",\"description\":\"If Lahren wants to claim that she loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that all people -- preborn and born -- deserve to be protected.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sorry, Tomi: You can’t compare guns to abortion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\",\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cassy Cooke\"},\"description\":\"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sorry, Tomi: You can't compare guns to abortion","description":"If Lahren wants to claim that she loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that all people -- preborn and born -- deserve to be protected.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sorry, Tomi: You can't compare guns to abortion","og_description":"If Lahren wants to claim that she loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that all people -- preborn and born -- deserve to be protected.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2017-03-18T14:45:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-20T14:50:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":546,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Tomi-Lahren-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cassy Cooke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cassy Cooke","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/"},"author":{"name":"Cassy Cooke","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392"},"headline":"Sorry, Tomi: You can’t compare guns to abortion","datePublished":"2017-03-18T14:45:25+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-20T14:50:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/"},"wordCount":1051,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Opinion","Top Story on Homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/","name":"Sorry, Tomi: You can't compare guns to abortion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-03-18T14:45:25+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-20T14:50:01+00:00","description":"If Lahren wants to claim that she loves the Constitution, she needs to understand that all people -- preborn and born -- deserve to be protected.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/sorry-tomi-you-cant-compare-guns-to-abortion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sorry, Tomi: You can’t compare guns to abortion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392","name":"Cassy Cooke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cassy Cooke"},"description":"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163992"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164028,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163992\/revisions\/164028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}