I think the standard response to your suggestion that the best arguments aren’t necessarily the most effective, and that the most effective arguments aren’t necessarily any good at all, is to say that you should give the British public more credit, that they aren’t stupid.

Unfortunately, though, fallacious arguments do seem to sway public opinion, so I’m not sure I want to make that move.

It may not be that they’re “too much” to ask for, but they may be considered less effective than straw-man and other weasely arguments. It’s a regrettable truth that politicians (and “activists”) often use sophistry when the arguments supporting their stance are simply unconvincing or unattractive to the intended audience (e.g. chanting “it’s all just a bunch of cells”, even if they believe that to be the case, would seem unlikely to win much support).

Sometimes using purposely misleading arguments and faulty reasoning seems like the most reasonable choice out of a set of poor options.

That’s the pro-life argument, not the pro-choice one. Good logic – I’m very much enjoying the articles on this site!