Quote (FrozenWater @ Oct 3 2014 03:25am)
Brace yourselves for the wall of text that follows:
(Im posting it all in one text because i dont have the time to follow through the thread and reply piece by piece. But I do challenge people to argue against these points im making, you may even change my beliefs - though, I doubt it)
Abortions are (most safely) done in the first trimester. In fact, over half of all abortions are obtained within the first 8 weeks.
Fewer than 2% occur at 21 weeks or later. The vast majority of women - 88% - who have an abortion do so in their first trimester. Medical abortions also have less than 0.05% risk of a complication that requires hospital stay, and do not affect a woman's health of future ability to become pregnant or give birth.
A fetus cannot exist independently of the mother during the first trimester. As it is attached by the placenta and umbilical cord, its health is dependent on her health, and cannot be regarded as a separate entity as it cannot exist outside her womb.
When we talk about criminalizing abortion, we are talking about the government forcing a woman to give birth against her will.
The ability of a woman to have control of her body is critical to civil rights. Take away her reproductive choice and you step onto a slippery slope. If the government can force women to continue a pregnancy, what about forcing a woman to use contraception or undergo sterilization?
"If they become tired or even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth - that is why they are there." - Martin Luther
Freedom of religion is guaranteed to any citizen in Australia; so why would the beliefs and values of one religion mandate actual laws for all citizens? It would be unfair, unjust and immoral.
What about abortion in the case of rape or incest? Forcing a woman made pregnant by this violent act would cause further psychological harm to the victim.
Often a woman is too afraid to speak up, or is unaware that she is pregnant, thus the morning after pill is ineffective in these situations. Abortion is the only reasonable answer.
Teenage pregnancies and stress? Teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to leave school; receive inadequate prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or end up divorced.
Like any other difficult situation, abortion creates stress.. Yet the American Psychological Association found that stress was greatest prior to an abortion, and that there was no evidence of post-abortion syndrome.
Now, i'll address the standard form argument claiming abortion is 'murder'
- It is wrong to kill innocent human beings
- The embryo is an innocent human being.
- Hence it is wrong to kill the embryo.
'Human being' is used in different senses in (1) and (2). In (1), 'human being' is used in a moral sense to mean a 'person', a 'full-fledged member of the moral community'.
In (2), the 'human being' means 'biological human'. It does not follow that the embryo is a person, and it is persons that have rights, such as the right to life.
Lastly, what defines a 'human being'..
The great Carl Sagan said:
"If you deliberately kill a human being, it's called murder. If you deliberately kill a chimpanzee -- biologically, our closest relative, sharing 99.6 percent of our active genes -- whatever else it is, it's not murder. To date, murder uniquely applies to killing human beings. Therefore, the question of when personhood arises is key to the abortion debate. When does the foetus become human?"
- So, if only a person can be murdered, when does the fetus attain personhood?
-When its face becomes distincly human, near the end of the first trimester?
-When the fetus becomes responsive to stimuli - again, at the end of the first trimester?
-When the lungs have reached a stage of development sufficient that the fetus might, just conceivably, be able to breathe on its own in the outside air?
None of these particular developmental milestones involve uniquely human characteristics -- apart from the superficial matter of facial appearance. All animals respond to stimuli and a large number are able to breathe. But that doesn't stop us from slaughtering them by the billions. Our one great advantage, the secret of our success, is thought.
By placing harmless electrodes on a subject's head, scientists can measure the electrical activity produced by the network of neurons inside the skill. Different kinds of mental activity show different kinds of brain waves. But brain waves with regular patterns typical of adult human brains do not appear in the foetus until about the thirtieth week of pregnancy - near the beginning of the third trimester.
Conclusion - no person has any inherent or implied, legal or moral right to occupy another.
Heroic brw