Prior to Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro speech at George Washington University last night, he stopped by Maryland’s Salisbury University, where he got into a prolonged debate with two pro-choice attendees (probably students) about a) when does a “clump of cells” actually become recognized as a human being and b) does life begin at conception (via the Blaze):
“You don’t get to kill things just because it’s in your uterus,” Shapiro told the student during a back-and-forth.“It’s my body. How about you stay out of it?” the student replied.
“I don’t care about your appendix,” Shapiro quipped, referencing the student’s earlier argument. “I don’t even care about your uterus. I care about what’s in it.”
“And I can take out my appendix if I don’t want it. So why can’t I take out other parts of my body?” the student asked.
“Because they are not independent living human beings,” Shapiro fired back.
The student continued to engage in a debate, arguing the fetus is merely a “bundle of cells.”
“At what point does that bundle of cells become a human being in your judgement?” Shapiro asked her.
“Um—,” the student said.
[…]
Another student chimed in.
“The concept of body autonomy means that I don’t have to give up any part of my body unless I say so,” she said.
“The baby is not part of your body,” Shapiro quipped.
In general, the fear of calling a baby a “baby” within progressive circles is an entertaining spectacle, given the amount of intellectual gymnastics that are involved, which almost always ends with some disingenuous conclusion that a woman’s life holds more value than that of her child barring any life threatening conditions, or the pro-abortion supporter storming out because folks, like Shapiro, totally own them on the issue. In other words, they feel triggered, so off to the safe space, where like-minded people can sulk and discuss how the patriarchy sucks, or something.
Yet, one thing is clear in this exchange, which is that Shapiro is open to debate, and he wants to discuss these issues in which conservatives find themselves in the crosshairs of political correctness in campuses across the country. After going back and forth about the science relating to pregnancy, it becomes clear that the pro-choice wing of the attendees in the room are exasperated to the point where they accuse Shapiro of trying to shut them down; Shapiro aptly noted that he allowed them to speak for almost ten minutes on the subject. Another student asked Shapiro what criteria does he have regarding what defines a life, but then made an aberrant pivot by asking him of he considers semen to be a “life,” insinuating that Shapiro masturbates a lot because he’s a human being (no, I’m not making that part up).
“Well put, sir,” said Shapiro, which drew laughter from the audience. “I believe, as do most people who feel this way about abortion, that life begins at conception. When sperm meets egg, and the child is conceived, that’s when life begins; that is what I believe in. The rest of the question was weird,” he added.
Indeed, sir.
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