Dull thoughts on a shiny, shiny world.
Published on January 12, 2006 By cactoblasta In Misc
Abortion is murder.

It's an interesting concept on an intellectual level, and a terrifying one when taken to its logical extreme. I'm going to assume everyone knows the basics of this faith-based perspective, so let's skip to a condescending example.

There is a woman. Let's call her 'Jane'. She, being a woman, is capable of having children. Because she uses the pill, she has regular periods. Every time she does so, an egg fails to be fertilised and thus is expelled from her body (this account is going to be simplified, so forget about the complexities; I don't care about them when it comes to the example).

Now, according to the abortion is murder argument, this is fine; an unfertilised egg has no soul and it's therefore not murder.

Fast-forward however a few years. Jane now has a guy in her life. His name is unimportant. They decide to have a child. An egg gets fertilised and 9 months later she gives birth to a child.

All fine and dandy. Jane, however, gets another egg fertilised by accident. She decides to have an abortion. It's best if we don't bother with what her man thought, because that's not an argument I want to get into.

The fertilised egg is destroyed whilst in the womb at 6 weeks. She has committed murder.

All well and good.

Then she and her man decide they want another child. Eventually an egg gets fertilised. But, 4 months into her pregnancy, she has a miscarriage. No one's sure about why it happened, but one thing is certain. She's committed manslaughter, or is at least guilty of neglect or an accessory to manslaughter.

That's what I can't handle.

If you believe that abortion is murder, how do you deal with it?

Comments (Page 2)
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on Jan 13, 2006
But this is based on my belief that a child doesn't deserve any rights until it takes its first breath and becomes human, or at least human enough. If it doesn't reach that stage, it wasn't meant to be. That includes abortions.


So, apparently you are completely comfortable with defining "human being" by completely arbitrary definitions? I see you are also clueless to the difference between a death and a killing.

While I do apply scripture to my own beliefs, it isn't necessary for the abortion issue. If a fetus has a metabolism and DNA consistant with Human Beings, how can it possibly be anything but a Human Being? Therefore we should recognize the rights of a fetus equal to the rights of a neonate.
on Jan 13, 2006
So, apparently you are completely comfortable with defining "human being" by completely arbitrary definitions?


Of course! If I'm going to have a reason it may as well be arbitrary! But more seriously, I think humanity isn't simply a matter of genes. A human isn't simply something with the right number of chromosomes or whatever. And who's to say that's not an arbitrary definition anyway? I don't see any difference between deciding humanity on the basis of belief or the basis of science. Both are only valid according to their own rules.

Plus you get the problem raised by iconoclast if you just do it by genes - women who regularly have sex would need to regularly be scanned for pregnancy, just in case someone was trying to slip through the government net by not announcing their status at conception, when of course it would be time for them to get the appropriate identification as a full human being. Would the Births, Deaths and Marriages Bureau become Conceptions, Deaths and Life Partnerships? I suppose it could work though if everyone involved really applied themselves...

I see you are also clueless to the difference between a death and a killing.


Clue me in. I'm interested now.
on Jan 13, 2006
Most birth control pills work by keeping the fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterus. Therefore, if you believe abortion is murder, then you better not be using birth control pills.


exactly.

also applicable to the various 'morning after' pills and vice-versa.
on Jan 13, 2006

Most birth control pills work by keeping the fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterus. Therefore, if you believe abortion is murder, then you better not be using birth control pills.

That is what the morning after pill does.  BC pills stop the woman from ovulating.

on Jan 13, 2006

If the law comes to believe that abortion is murder then any failed pregnancy must be considered a potential crime.

Which a doctors note would absolve you of.  Quick and easy.

When you come right down to it, everything you do is considered a potential crime (did you speed?  Insider trading to make that grand?).  However, the police are not investigating potential crimes, they are investigating crimes.

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