[footfoot]

Originally Posted by Lugez

So what you're saying is that it isn't human because it can't survive outside with the mother...Ok...Why not take this to a different level? What about all those people in the ICU living off machines? They can't survive off their machines and can't survive the environment. Therefore, they're not human. Right? And if it is 1 week old, you fail to allow possible future development, causing DEATH. In other words - You kill it. Another human being.

This is an invalid comparison. The people on the ICU machines are and have been people with full lawful personhood. A fetus is basically a bunch of cells - part of the mother that needs the mother to grow and live. It is not an independent being. In any event, I was trying to emphasize earlier that I think it SHOULD matter that the mother takes precedence over a bunch of cells that (presumably) have accidentally invaded her body.

( Deeming these cells more important than their living, human host has negative implications for the stem cell research debate as well. Stem cell research could possibly find cures for previously irreparable injuries (eg paralysis) but not if the cells are prohibited from being harvested ).

Basically, I think there is a difference between what people think a woman OUGHT to do (have the baby even if it is "inconvenient") and her right to do what she wants to with her own body.

There is no other situation in which it is suggested a person give up his or her rights based fully on something/someone that does not even exist yet.

It sort of is about convenience. People do it because it's the easy way out. Not saying it makes it easy, but its certaintly the easiest way.

What I'm saying is: there is no easy way out. None. Abortion is not the easy way out. Having the baby is not the easy way out. There is no easy way out. A woman that goes through with the pregnancy has to deal with the emotional baggage that comes with giving birth, having a child forever out in the world whether or not she keeps it, etc etc. A woman that has the abortion has to deal with intense emotional trauma and the social stigma that forces guilt and shame upon a woman. There is no easy way out.

Like I said in a previous post, it's not about the woman's body. It's about the human life that's growing inside her body.

See 2 paragraphs above.

An interesting paper on the topic - which starts with the premise that the fetus IS a person - is Judith Jarvis Thomson's paper which you can find for free HERE.