Third, in light of the foregoing, to charge a doctor with being unethical because he/she will not perform an abortion, is not only meaningless in terms of the secularists’ worldview, but, it is hypocritical. If ethics are meaningless on an evolutionary or naturalist worldview, then the naturalist cannot level the charge of unethical. The language of ethics simply becomes artillery in the debate.

Fourth, the imposition of the larger medical community’s ethic upon all, is not only meaningless and hypocritical, but it is just that: impositional, that is, coercive. It is a violation of the individual’s liberty of conscience, a cardinal value that Americans have held dear for over two-hundred years. Thus, to refer to a doctor as coercive because he won’t do a procedure is, once again, linguistic sophistry. (A patient can always get a second opinion or go elsewhere).

Fifth, in connection with the above, to speak of the rights of the patient is also out of bounds. What about the unborn child’s rights? What about the doctor’s rights?

Sixth, the use of phraseology like “abandon the patient” simply because a particular doctor won’t perform an abortion is both disingenuous and inflammatory. Even the title of the article is devious: “Doctors’ Personal Beliefs Can Hinder Care.” How about the opening line of the piece: “A disturbing number of doctors?” Further, calling it unethical to refuse to prescribe birth control to underage girls without parental consent stands the definition of honesty on its head.

Again, a little discernment is needed when we look at how secularists frame the debate. Let us not abandon doctors, patients, and indeed the secularists themselves by abandoning our responsibility to be both theologically informed and literate that we might not only discern the fallacies the enemy foists upon us but that we might actually frame the debate with truth.

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