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Pascal’s Abortion Wager

Pascal’s Abortion Wager

Last updated on: November 7, 2022 at 9:06 am by Dennis Knapp

Pascal’s Abortion Wager 2022-11-07T09:06:02-06:00 Dennis Knapp

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We, in the United States, face a mid-term election on November 8th. Pundits on both the Left and the Right make their pet points about the economy, inflation, immigration, crime, and yes, abortion. Ever since the removal of Roe v. Wade, the Left made abortion, specifically access to abortion, their main selling point to keep Democrats in power. Disregard record inflation on everything. Forget the mass influx of migrants overwhelming border communities. Forget the rising crime in all major US cities. Abortion is the issue de jour. Will you take that bet?

In this article, I assess the abortion debate through the lens of Pascal’s Wager. What can we learn from this wager, which usually concerns the existence of God? Well, the issue of abortion concerns existence. Are unborn human persons or not? What are our options when considering whether they have a status at all? In the end, I show that a wager on anything, except an alive baby, we must not take.

Pascal’s Wager

First, let’s look at Pascal’s Wager itself.

If you erroneously believe in God, you lose nothing (assuming that death is the absolute end), whereas if you correctly believe in God, you gain everything (eternal bliss). But if you correctly disbelieve in God, you gain nothing (death ends all), whereas if you erroneously disbelieve in God, you lose everything (eternal damnation).

To sum up:

If one mistakenly believes in God and God does not exist, one loses nothing.
If one correctly believes in God and God exists, one loses nothing and gains everything.
Conversely, if one disbelieves in God and God does not exist, one loses nothing.
But, if one disbelieves in God and God exists, one loses everything.

Therefore, the best bet in this wager is the belief in God, whether God exists or not.

Pascal’s Abortion Wager

Moreover, when we apply Pascal’s Wager to abortion we come away with the same conclusion on the existence of the unborn as human persons.

The Wager:

If one mistakenly believes the unborn are human persons and stops abortion, the result is more people get to live after their birth. Even if the unborn are not human persons, the result is life.
If one correctly believes the unborn are human persons and stops abortion, the result is the same; that is, more people get to live after their birth.
Conversely, if one disbelieves the unborn are human persons and allows abortion, and they are not, the result is the disposal of a clump of cells.
Moreover, if one disbelieves the unborn are human persons and allows abortion, and they are, the result is mass slaughter of millions of people.

Therefore, when one looks at the result of each scenario, the worst case for one who believes the unborn are human persons is millions of people live who would have died in abortion. On the other hand, the worst case for the one who disbelieves the unborn are human persons is the death of millions of people in abortion. Around 63 million since 1973, in fact. Will you take that bet? I will not.

Taking Final Bets!

To conclude, given what’s at stake in the above wager, the best bet is clear. To bet the unborn are human persons, whether they are or not, means the birth of living babies. This is the bet taken by those who are pro-life. Furthermore, to wager that the unborn are not human persons, and they are, means the death of 63 million—and counting—babies. This is the best taken by those who are pro-abortion.

Again, if pro-lifers lose the wager, people live. If the pro-abortion side loses, millions die.

Place your bets!

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