My two very serious questions come after this lengthy comment. Please read on.
Take a two-part premise: murder is wrong, and it is murder to electively terminate a human life after that has been out of its mothers womb for two years. It's murder (and wrong) regardless of whether the mother feels able to be a good parent, regardless of whether her child is inhibiting career goals, personal ambitions, or her social life, regardless of her maturity or financial stability, and regardless of anything else. The mother has the ability to "choose", but if she chooses to end her two-year-old child's life, it's murder and it's wrong.
Do we agree? Now follow me through a loose reverse timeline:
As with two-year-olds, most people agree that it's murder to electively end the life of a human that is one year old after birth (or, very roughly, 92 weeks after conception).
What about only one week after birth?
A one-week-old human isn't much different from a one-hour-old human, which isn't much different from a one-minute-old human.
A human life one minute before natural birth isn't much different from newborn baby; principally, light hasn't struck its eyes directly and it hasn't breathed air. At the same point in its development it may already have been born if the mother has induced birth with medicine. (Rhetorical question: my second daughter's birth was induced; if we could have legally aborted her then, would it be okay to end her life at that stage even if she was already born?)
A human life in the womb isn't much different from one moment to the next, but developmental milestones have been identified:
Lungs are fully developed roughly three weeks before the natural time of birth--Week 37.
Fingerprints appear at Week 23; babies born at this stage of development can survive with help in a NICU. People are alive today who were born at this stage.
Arms, legs, and vital organs are developed by Week 11.
A small heart is beating at Week 5; most women aren't even aware they're pregnant yet.
And it all begins when a human egg is fertilized and becomes a genetically unique life.
So, here are my questions. Regardless of laws or other common standards, according to you:
1) At what point in the development of human life is it okay (or "not wrong") for a mother to electively terminate that life?
2) Why is it okay at that point?
Take a two-part premise: murder is wrong, and it is murder to electively terminate a human life after that has been out of its mothers womb for two years. It's murder (and wrong) regardless of whether the mother feels able to be a good parent, regardless of whether her child is inhibiting career goals, personal ambitions, or her social life, regardless of her maturity or financial stability, and regardless of anything else. The mother has the ability to "choose", but if she chooses to end her two-year-old child's life, it's murder and it's wrong.
Do we agree? Now follow me through a loose reverse timeline:
As with two-year-olds, most people agree that it's murder to electively end the life of a human that is one year old after birth (or, very roughly, 92 weeks after conception).
What about only one week after birth?
A one-week-old human isn't much different from a one-hour-old human, which isn't much different from a one-minute-old human.
A human life one minute before natural birth isn't much different from newborn baby; principally, light hasn't struck its eyes directly and it hasn't breathed air. At the same point in its development it may already have been born if the mother has induced birth with medicine. (Rhetorical question: my second daughter's birth was induced; if we could have legally aborted her then, would it be okay to end her life at that stage even if she was already born?)
A human life in the womb isn't much different from one moment to the next, but developmental milestones have been identified:
Lungs are fully developed roughly three weeks before the natural time of birth--Week 37.
Fingerprints appear at Week 23; babies born at this stage of development can survive with help in a NICU. People are alive today who were born at this stage.
Arms, legs, and vital organs are developed by Week 11.
A small heart is beating at Week 5; most women aren't even aware they're pregnant yet.
And it all begins when a human egg is fertilized and becomes a genetically unique life.
So, here are my questions. Regardless of laws or other common standards, according to you:
1) At what point in the development of human life is it okay (or "not wrong") for a mother to electively terminate that life?
2) Why is it okay at that point?
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