Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Fluther on February 6, 2009 at 6:45pm

I think the enlightened view is that all life is equal. Be it in the form of an elephant, a foetus or a ringworm.

Permalink Reply by Rev. James Thomas Hicks, D.D. on February 6, 2009 at 6:50pm

Once a cell splits, that's life.

Permalink Reply by Flip on February 7, 2009 at 1:33am

so... do you photosynthesize or have you figured out some form of chemosynthesis?

because every time you eat something I'd bet that you engaged in some form of cell murder
hell do you drink water out of your tap... or how about even bottled water?
well there's living bacteria in almost all of the samples taken from both.

living "breathing" metabolizing reproductive life.

Permalink Reply by Frink on February 7, 2009 at 1:59am

SHIT! I killed life when I scraped the inside of my cheek with a toothpick for that lab exercise last week. I should sue the school.

Permalink Reply by Mark on February 7, 2009 at 2:26am

What kind of godless heathen kills innocent cheeks cells.... oh wait never mind

Permalink Reply by Rev. James Thomas Hicks, D.D. on February 7, 2009 at 10:06am

Ever heard of a carnivore?

Permalink Reply by Frink on February 7, 2009 at 2:18pm

Isn't it inconsistent to oppose abortion rights but eat meat? By defining life as "once a cell splits," you're setting up a rather significant double-standard.

Permalink Reply by Rev. James Thomas Hicks, D.D. on February 8, 2009 at 8:48am

Human life. And not just any human life. My flesh & blood. I'd eat another human for survival, just not my children. Like I said, I'm not bias, but when it comes to my seed, it's life. Anyone else & their private situation has the right to do what they want.

Permalink Reply by chiz on February 19, 2009 at 8:23am

I don't know what "life" is. Since abortion will be a subject for debate for as long as it's a used process. Eventually, it will be unnecessary, but until then, I would say life is when the body can function on it's own with 75% efficiency.

How can they determine that? I don't know but I would suspect they would just put a month range on how far into the pregnancy one can have an abortion. Anything after that is "spit in hand".

Permalink Reply by chiz on February 19, 2009 at 11:06pm

Was this meant to be a reply to my post, or are you just providing random information relevant to the topic?

Permalink Reply by Pam on February 19, 2009 at 9:03am

I look at life biologically. Does it: (1) metabolize, (2) react to stimuli, and (3) reproduce?

As you can imagine, there are limited studies on when a fetus begins to react to stimulus. An abstract on fetal pain says:

"Fetal awareness of noxious stimuli requires functional thalamocortical connections. Thalamocortical fibers begin appearing between 23 to 30 weeks' gestational age, while electroencephalography suggests the capacity for functional pain perception in preterm neonates probably does not exist before 29 or 30 weeks. [...] Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester." [source]

I also consider the fact that it's perfectly legal to terminate life support on vegetative patients. So why shouldn't it be legal to terminate pregnancy, up to a certain point?

Nobody likes abortion. I wish it were an unnecessary practice. But until this nation implements better sexual education programs, (sorry, 'abstinence only' does not cut the mustard) I believe abortions are the unavoidable outcome of the uneducated.

Permalink Reply by chiz on February 19, 2009 at 11:30pm

Well, those time frames sound fair enough to me.
It really doesn't matter what one or many people think about this subject; what matters is what we can all agree on. There will need to be compromise on both sides. 29 weeks is fine with me, but that is almost 7 months. Pro-life people are not going to go with that plan. (the fanatics from both sides can be ignored... if violence is their tool, they can just go to prison for god or whatever they are fighting for)

So, are we, as pro-choice folks willing to dip down to 2 months? 3..4... 5 months? I would venture to say that unless the host's health becomes jepordized, 3 or 4 months is more than enough time to 'decide' if you want a child. If the pregnancy was a mistake or rape, incest, etc. was a factor, I would expect that it would be a pretty quick decision. If not, there is 90 to 120 days to think about it.

Baby steps. This subject has been at the heart of debate in this country for a very long time.. and I don't see much progress. Generally speaking, we are still divided and at some point, we have to find a compromise and try to move from there. That would be the logical and reasonable thing to do.

Eventually, abortion will be unnecessary b/c scientists are making progress on different technologies to solve the problem... so, maybe then we can find something else to argue about. :-)

These are of course, my opinions, and are not meant to represent any specific group.

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