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[messed-up rant]
OK - a quick perusal of various sources will uncover for you some interesting information, such as when a fetus begins having a heartbeat, when alpha-wave patterns begin in the brain, and when 'mock-breathing' begins (with the still-fluid-filled lungs). Now - at what point does something become 'human?' Does being human entail having a heartbeat? Thinking? Breathing?
If so, every dolphin is, too, a human. Truth is, I don't think any of us are in a position to judge when something 'becomes' a person - think about it.
Now - why be pro-choice? People perceive a "right to choose" - a right to choose what? To have a baby (or not)? To go through labor? To have an inconvenient child, or one who will be born at an implicit disadvantage?
Well . . .
Why be anti-abortion? For many, it's due to religious and moral obligation - "killing" of the unborn child, or simply a belief that abortion should not be birth control - the "if you slip one past the goalie . . . " defense.
None of these arguments alone, from either side, makes much sense to me.
Straight up, this becomes an argument of moral values and, thus, religious structure. Think about it - this is an argument that relies on subjective definitions and notable exceptions (ie the word "living", the case of rape, etc), not one that has a clear backbone and structure. Is it murder? Well - it depends on how you define all this stuff.
I openly question the validity of imposing moral structure on others. This is NOT the same as making a law against rape, murder, or tax evasion - this is a subjective argument, with a significant split in public opinion from one side to the other.
As such - I don't think imposing any sort of anti-abortion legislation, other than making the availability of abortions "standardized" (ie eliminating partial-birth abortions etc) for all. I don't feel that imposing any sort of uniform set of values is reasonable, and abortion would be the classic example of this, I feel. I most likely would never have an abortion - but I feel that it's unimportant to my daily life that someone else may. I am in no position to rationalize making another's decision for him or her.
[/rant]
Now - if you want to hear a truly radical idea, we can get into the carrying-capacity of the earth, population controls, and the elimination of natural selection in humans . . . but we'll save that for another time - no need to toss the poopy into the fan.
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Hybrid Mode
