Abortion >12 weeks

[AdHoc]

Hypothetically, if a person saw pictures of human development from 12 weeks of pregnancy onward and at the same time was able to see pictures of the abortion methods used on those beings do you think this information would support the pro-abortion or the anti-abortion movement?

I looked on wikipedia and was not able to see any pictures and I was wondering if there was a reason for that?

[AdHoc]

Who said ethics is rational?

Not me, I would have thought I've been around here long enough to be known as the token moral subjectivist.

So if a woman's child needs medical care and she makes an emotional plea to a doctor to save her child's life she is irrational?

The emotional plea itself is irrational. Pleading though is very rational, because we all know pulling at people's heart strings works.

I'm not understanding how simply showing pictures could be a logical fallacy?

It's a specific form of the red herring fallacy. Pictures is not relevent to the logic behind an argument.

Is it a logical fallacy to show pictures of starving children in Africa?

Yes, if you are using it to argue that one ought to help starving children in Africa.

I wasn't sure at the time but I accept the possibility that they are avoiding publishing offensive material.

Ok.

I agree with you, the argument is not, by definition solid logic but the use of the argument is by general definition, logical. Sometimes we create walls of denial to keep ourselves safe from uncomfortable facts or facts we would rather not accept. The only way to get around these walls is to appeal to the heart.

Forgive me for putting on my tin foil hat for a moment... If I was wanting to control the opinion of the masses in respect to abortion and ensure it is given the blessing of public opinion I would do everything possible to keep pictures out of the debate.

No pictures of the unborn looking peaceful, sucking their thumbs or yawning. For two reasons: 1) It's a logically-flawed appeal to emotion and 2) People might form their opinions based on what their heart tells them is right rather than calculate the hard facts with their brains.

Of course it should go without saying that for the reasons above the other photos should be kept out of the debate as well.

I think I will start another thread to find out what would be a logical argument to help starving people in Africa.