Taxi Driver Dilemma

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Neil_Anthony

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You work as a taxi driver and your family depends on your salary. You pick up a female passenger, who ask to go to an address you recognize as an abortion clinic. Her pregnancy is far enough along to be noticable and showing. She volunteers the information that she is going for an abortion, and is obviously strongly pro-choice and a feminist. If you refuse to drive her, you will lose your job. What do you do?
 
I could not knowingly be apart in the death of the child I would have to tell her I am soory but I can not take you there.
 
You drive her there and talk to her on the way there in an attempt to get her to change her mind.

She’s going to get a ride there one way or another…the difference being a ride where someone is trying to help the baby (you) or someone else who couldn’t care less.
 
Drop her off at the corner or on the next block.

It’s not like she won’t take a bus, get another cab, or walk there if you don’t take her.

edit: On the cab ride there, you can talk to her and find out more about the situation…and also try to inform her and talk her out of it. 🙂
 
Great question.

If I owned the cab, no.

If I was an employee of a cab company… I’d talk to my priest about that. I’d probably end up either getting fired or getting my company sued by a prodeath feminist.
 
I’d probably drive to the opposite end of town and then have car problems.
 
Neil_Anthony said:
You work as a taxi driver and your family depends on your salary. You pick up a female passenger, who ask to go to an address you recognize as an abortion clinic. Her pregnancy is far enough along to be noticable and showing. She volunteers the information that she is going for an abortion, and is obviously strongly pro-choice and a feminist. If you refuse to drive her, you will lose your job. What do you do?
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I had to vote no.
If I were provided with an address, even knowing what it is, I would say yes drive her because you have no reason to assume that abortion is the reason.

However, since she “volunteers” that she is going for an abortion, I must likewise “volunteer” that I cannot in good conscience transport her there.
However, I would offer to take her to a crisis pregnancy counciling center for free if she would like.

Peace
James
 
JRKH said:
However, since she “volunteers” that she is going for an abortion, I must likewise “volunteer” that I cannot in good conscience transport her there.
However, I would offer to take her to a crisis pregnancy counciling center for free if she would like.
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Agreed, that is the lynchpin to my answer.
 
Thanks for all of your answers. The 9 to 0 vote is pretty impressive.
 
If I kicked her out of the cab, what would that accomplish? I would lose my job, and she would simply get another cab driver, and the baby would still die at the abortion clinic. Nothing gets accomplished. It wouldn’t matter what I did or did not do. Since she seems to be in such a mood to talk about it, then perhaps I could show my viewpoint and try to talk her out of it. I do not condone abortions at all, but my refusal to drive her there wouldn’t get anything accomplished except me losing a job.

On a sidenote with abortion, I personally find it sickening that baby killing can pass under the guise of “woman’s rights”.
 
kbwall said:
If I kicked her out of the cab, what would that accomplish? I would lose my job, and she would simply get another cab driver, and the baby would still die at the abortion clinic. Nothing gets accomplished. It wouldn’t matter what I did or did not do. Since she seems to be in such a mood to talk about it, then perhaps I could show my viewpoint and try to talk her out of it. I do not condone abortions at all, but my refusal to drive her there wouldn’t get anything accomplished except me losing a job.

On a sidenote with abortion, I personally find it sickening that baby killing can pass under the guise of “woman’s rights”.
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And keep you from be an accomplice to the death of the Child. Your logic that she would just get another ride is on the same lines as the a german soldier in WWII says I was just doing my job and if I had not they would have found someone else to do it and I would have been killed to. Did not work for them does not work for the cab driver in this case.
 
I’d drive her and talk to her. I either change her mind or she’ll get pissed at me and asked to be let off immediately. Either way I had a chance to change her mind.
 
kbwall said:
If I kicked her out of the cab, what would that accomplish? I would lose my job, and she would simply get another cab driver, and the baby would still die at the abortion clinic. Nothing gets accomplished. It wouldn’t matter what I did or did not do. Since she seems to be in such a mood to talk about it, then perhaps I could show my viewpoint and try to talk her out of it. I do not condone abortions at all, but my refusal to drive her there wouldn’t get anything accomplished except me losing a job.

On a sidenote with abortion, I personally find it sickening that baby killing can pass under the guise of “woman’s rights”.
Click to expand...
Let me propose a parallel scenerio then. If a person got into your cab and gave you an address at the docks, and then volunteered that they were going to commit suicide would you drive them to the docks?

Peace
James
 
I instinctively voted that I would not drive her. However, considering the Churches teaching on morality (CCC 1750) one needs to consider three things;
  • the object chosen;
  • the end in view or the intention;
  • the circumstances of the action.
One could say here the moral choice is not yours, it is the mother’s. Your object is the carrying out of your job, the intention is to feed your family and to do what your customer’s require and are paying you for and the circumstances are that you are in paid employment doing someone else’s bidding. Ultimately, your compliance with the mother’s wishes will bring about the death of a child, it does take immense courage sometimes to stand up for one’s convictions, but it is not you who is making the moral choice of ending the child’s life here. I think the question for you would be are you complicit by your actions?
 
JRKH said:
Let me propose a parallel scenerio then. If a person got into your cab and gave you an address at the docks, and then volunteered that they were going to commit suicide would you drive them to the docks?

Peace
James
Click to expand...
Not exactly parallel.
There are laws against suicide as well as laws against assisting in the suicide.

You would be perfectly justified in calling the police.
 
Neil_Anthony said:
You work as a taxi driver and your family depends on your salary. You pick up a female passenger, who ask to go to an address you recognize as an abortion clinic. Her pregnancy is far enough along to be noticable and showing. She volunteers the information that she is going for an abortion, and is obviously strongly pro-choice and a feminist. If you refuse to drive her, you will lose your job. What do you do?
Click to expand...
I’d take her and try to talk her out of the choice. The decision to have the abortion is hers, not yours.

The other way to look at it is that maybe the Lord sent YOU to talk to her. If she’s on the way to an abortion clinic, you are literallly the unborn child’s last chance. Rest assured, if there’s a spiritual element involved, and you refuse to take her, I can guarantee you the devil will have a stronger grip on the very next driver who arrives to take her the rest of they way.

And if she won’t listen, then pray as hard as you can, if silently.
 
vz71 said:
Originally Posted by JRKH
Let me propose a parallel scenerio then. If a person got into your cab and gave you an address at the docks, and then volunteered that they were going to commit suicide would you drive them to the docks?
Click to expand...
And there are laws against the murder of the unborn and the assisting therein…They may not be “civil” laws, but they are laws none the same - Moral Laws, the violation of which endanger’s ones soul.

So I don’t see the parallel as a problem on the level of moral law.

You say that you would be perfectly justified in calling the police. Likewise you would be perfectly justified in taking the person to the ER instead of the docks. You base this on the restaints of civil law, which in this case matches up with moral law. But what about a situation where moral and civil law is in opposition? Does the opposition of civil and moral law change your duty as a Christian in this case?

Peace
James
Click to expand...
 
JRKH said:
And there are laws against the murder of the unborn and the assisting therein…They may not be “civil” laws, but they are laws none the same - Moral Laws, the violation of which endanger’s ones soul.

So I don’t see the parallel as a problem on the level of moral law.
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Because the civil law is the way it is, there are a number of options readily available to you as well as certain liabilities that may be incurred.

Understand, I am not trying to equivocate the civil and moral. I just see that the situation is different because of the civil laws.
 
JRKH said:
Let me propose a parallel scenerio then. If a person got into your cab and gave you an address at the docks, and then volunteered that they were going to commit suicide would you drive them to the docks?

Peace
James
Click to expand...
The big difference is that the legal system will help you help the person planning suicide. In the original dilemma, the legal system guarantees the passanger the right to have the abortion, and losing your job will in all likelyhood do nothing to change her mind about the abortion, but will prevent you from fulfilling your own duties towards your family (providing for them).
 
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