How about the abortion cutoff be the point at which a baby is able to sustain its on life without assistance? At that point adoption should be considered and encouraged by doctor. I hate to think about abortion, especially at that stage,but do you think that would be an agreeable cutoff? Bring in parents that want to adopt and have them talk to the expecting mother.
Thats what is now, actually the cutoff is a bit more conservative than that. But, no I don't find that agreeable. It is an arbitrary starting point. Are you comfortable saying this human being with 100 million cells is a person with a right to life, but this other human being with 99,999,999 cells is not a person yet, so its ok to kill it? That is not a proper distinction in my mind. That is largely a function of medical technology. Today a baby can survive after 19 weeks. That was unheard of 10 years ago. Should we keep lowering the bar everytime we have a medical advance, or should we do the just thing and say human life is human life and we afford the same respects to all innocents regardless of their developmental stage. It is never wrong to err on the conservative side with life death issues are involved.
I can tell you if I left my 2 year old in the woods, the chances of survival are nil. Hell, I almost didn't make it out of high school with parents.
I believe in birth control and adoption. That would be ideal to me. Except in cases of incest, birth defects or rape. What I meant by baby's survival was its ability to breath on its own. Not fix a sandwich.
i didnt write they are the same. but they all are victimless, and strongly tied to mythology. like i wrote before, negative effect on society and victims. the "way to treat others" sounds like more mythology.
Hate to tell you but unless God himself slid down a sun beam and held that babies hand, 23 weeks is about the earliest a child can survive outside the womb. Not saying their aren't medical miracles that don't happen, but 19 wks is not a regular occurance. Even at 23 wks, some will have issues well in to their lives, as there's still major development going on.
This arguing about survivability on its own without aid is meaningless. We use our medical capability to nurture and extend life all through the human life cycle. If you use that standard you could say old or sick or injured people on life support could be terminated without care. In fact our whole society is set up to nurture, care for and extend life at much cost EXCEPT in the case of a fetus. If we as a society doesn't recognize that at sometime during gestation a fetus needs to be protected it will be a stain on us.
Don't the headlines of today speak to this issue? Are we to allow the first amendment to be eroded or the 14th? The stories are the basis for our rights in the future. If we allow them to be taken from us we will be no better off than the Chinese or Cubans or Venezuelans. It isn't just abortion or 2nd amendment but a tapestry that needs to be protected.
Several babies have survived from 19 weeks. It isn't common, but it is fact. 25 years ago 25 weeks was a stretch, now iti is common. Our standard should not be set on a function of medical technology. It should be set on when life begins.
