Here are some notes, published on my student web site at the time, from a Critical Issues Symposium (1 credit course) while I was a professor in the Computer Science department in the Business School at Winthrop University in 2002.

Note: Below are some notes from the class discussion.

The "abortion" issue is used as an introduction to how to civilly discuss a controversial subject. We are interested in two goals.

• The most important goal is to learn, by example, how to approach controversial issues.
• The second, and less important goal, is to come up with a definitive solution to the issue, as that may not even be possible.

Names mean things, but sometimes the same terms may mean different things to different people.

What does it mean to "argue"?

The word "argue" can mean to disagree, sometimes to the extent that people arguing can get very upset at one another.

The word "argue" also means to reason, as when a lawyer argues a case. It is usually in the best interests of the lawyer and his/her client that he/she not get upset, but very calmly lay out the reasoning of why his/her client is not guilty or the other client is guilty.

Before discussing controversial issues, it is important to first define terms and accepted facts. That can mean identifying important assumptions and names that may or may not refer to the same meaning.

For example, if we assume that the earth is round, then arguing that the earth is not round may or may not be relevant to the discussion. It may be a red herring used to divert the discussion from more important issues.

Let us lay out the terms, definitions, and facts for the "abortion" issues as best we can.

• abortion
• pro-life
• pro-choice
• anti-abortion
• baby killers
• choice
• murder
• infanticide

In our context, a more descriptive definition is that the "abortion" issue refers to the termination a human pregnancy using other than natural methods.

The "woman's right to choose" movement is based on the assertion that a woman has a right to choose whether to terminate their own pregnancy using other than natural methods.

• What does natural mean?

Aside: In ancient times, one way to perform an abortion was to kill the mother which also killed the fetus.

A critical question to the "abortion" issue is the following.

• When does human life begin?
• When does a fetus become a human being?

[diagram omitted, some discussion follows]

In terms of reasoning, a boundary condition is a condition that limits the discussion of that reasoning. It is useful to identify boundary conditions for discussion and/or debate topics.

Most people would agree to the following when discussing human life.

• Life does not exist before conception. A sperm and an egg, kept separate, will never result in new life.
• Life exists after birth. There is a long history, legal and otherwise, of protecting life after birth.
• Somewhere from the time the sperm and egg join, at conception, up to and including birth, life begins.

Here are some possible viewpoints given the previous boundary conditions.

• Life begins at conception (one boundary condition)
• Life begins at birth (the other boundary condition)
• Life begins at some point after conception but before birth (everything in the middle)

If life begins at conception, then "abortion" is murder. Some names for groups and/or people taking this point of view are as follows.

If life begins at birth, then "abortion" is not murder. Some names for groups and/or people taking this point of view are as follows.

If life begins after conception but before birth, then we have room for disagreement on whether "abortion" is murder or not murder. Groups and/or people taking this point of view often tend to side with one of the previous points of view.

Some people ignore the issue.

Some people claim it does not matter to them.

Some people claim it does not affect them.

One larger question that arose in the discussion is the following.

• What right or rights does the government have in telling or not telling people what to do?