The Ben Franklin Decision

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.	Pro-Choice Pro-Truth Pro-Life We Bring the Light of Truth to the Abortion Issue.

Applying The Ben Franklin
Decision-making Technique
To the Abortion Question

The Question

Should the government restrict
access to safe, legal abortions?

Why Use the Ben Franklin Technique: Because it condenses all the factors in a very complicated issue and turns them into one simple question. It offers a bottom line decision-making tool.

If you examine any question and forty percent of the evidence point to one side and sixty percent to the other side, that's still a rather tough choice to make. But what about when the evidence is ninety percent for one side and ten percent for the other, is that a tough or an easy decision?

What is the Ben Franklin Technique: In making a decision regarding the pros and cons of outlawing abortion, we refer you to a decision making technique used by Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Franklin was one of our country's (USA) founding fathers, a skilled business man, a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, philosopher, a musician, and the country's first millionaire. Here's his method of decision making:

When Ben Franklin had a major decision to make, he would examine the situation and make a list of all the factors favoring each of his possible options. Then based on all the information on his list, he would make his decision. Let's examine abortion using the Ben Franklin technique.

Adding a Numerical Score: Because all the factors are not equally important, let's add a numerical score and then add up the numbers to see where we end up.

"There are lies, dammed lies, and then there are statistics." This type of scoring is obviously arbitrary and not very specific of scientific. As the above quote indicates and as Enron and several other major corporations painfully proved, statistics (i.e. translating life into numbers) leaves miles of room for interpretation.

Your Interpretation: In order to minimize the affects of statistics, we have set up a scoring table so that anybody who wants to can offer a score. We will publish your result on our web site regardless of what score you come up with.

Here's the printer friendly version of your score card. Please fill it out and send it to us.

The Factors being Considered and
The Pro-Truth Team's Version of the Score:

Financial Cost: What are the financial costs involved in the abortion controversy? Are we getting our money's worth or is there a cheaper more efficient way to save innocent baby's lives?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

Environmental Cost: What are costs to our environment? Is the anti-abortion war friendly to or damaging to our environment.

Total points: 200 Favor choice: 200 Oppose choice: 00

Social Cost: What are costs to our social structure? Is the anti-abortion war making the best use of our time, money, and resources, or are their more important thing for us to focus on?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

Grief and Misery: What are emotional costs? Is the anti-abortion war bringing peace, joy and freedom to those affected by it or is it bringing pain, grief, and misery?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

Religious Freedom: What are costs in terms of religious freedom? Is the anti-abortion war promoting religious freedom or is it promoting big brother government interference in our personal lives?

Total points: 200 Favor choice: 200 Oppose choice: 00

Political Freedom: What are costs in terms of political freedom? Is the anti-abortion war promoting political freedom or is it promoting big brother government interference in our personal lives?

Total points: 200 Favor choice: 200 Oppose choice: 00

Adoption/Babies: Is adoption a viable alternative to abortion? If we outlaw abortion, will adoption take care of all the babies that will result from prohibiting abortion? Will the adoption option do anything to save the 40,000 children who starve to death each and every day?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 90 Oppose choice: 10

Adoption/Mothers: Is adoption a viable alternative to abortion? If we outlaw abortion, will adoption take care of the emotional, and physical needs of the woman forced to produce a baby?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 90 Oppose choice: 10

Saving Innocent lives/Already Born Babies: Will outlawing abortion do anything to save the 40,000 children who starve to death each and every day?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 99 Oppose choice: 01

Saving Innocent lives/Embryos and Fetuses: Will outlawing abortion do anything to save embryos and fetuses that would other wise not survive?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 75 Oppose choice: 25

Trusting our Leaders to Tell Us the Truth: Does the behavior of the people involved in the anti-abortion war inspire us to trust that our leaders will be open, honest and truthful with us?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

A Catalyst for Change: Is the anti-abortion war a catalyst for social change?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 0 Oppose choice: 100

Ethical and Moral Standards: Does the behavior of each side represent high moral and ethical behavior or are there claims that the end justify the means?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

Hypocrisy: Are both sides practicing what they preach?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

The Truth Factor: Are both sides being completely honest when they speak to the public about the abortion issue? Is either side attempting to manipulate public opinion by omitting or distorting the truth? Evidence

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 95 Oppose choice: 05

Censorship: Is either side attempting to interfere with the freedom of speech? Is either side attempting to inhibit public dissemination of information supporting the opponents point of view?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 99 Oppose choice: 01

Evidence: Do the no-choice people have scientific evidence to back up its claims that 1) an independent human life begins at conception, (God's Conception-Magic Act) and 2) that a human being is his/her physical body?

Total points: 100 Favor choice: 100 Oppose choice: 00

Flexibility: Are the people involved willing to adjust to the circumstances and the available evidence? Are they open to new ideas?

Total points 100 favor choice 50 favor no-choice 50

The Pro-Truth Team's Score

Total Points: Favor Choice 1868 Oppose choice 132

Percentages: Favor Choice 93 % Oppose choice 7 %

Our Conclusions:

The Ben Franklin approach to the abortion question

Should the government restrict
access to safe, legal abortions?

yields a result of over thirteen to one in favor of choice.

We are sure many will disagree with this assessment. Please come up with your own score (add additional questions if you like) and send it to us so we can add the results to our web site.

In order to add you score you will require that you to include with your assessment, some information about yourself. No identification information will not be added to our web site. The information is for statistical purposes only. We require: 1) your name, 2) your e-mail address, 3) who you represent, 4) your religious affiliation (if any) and 5) are for or against the right of choice.

Here's the printer friendly version of our score card. Please fill it out and send it to us.