Terry wrote:echi wrote:(I have to get in on this monster thread.) It seems backwards to me the fact that the pro-lifers take the position that life begins at conception, while the supposedly scientific-minded pro-choice side holds that life begins at birth or at some other midway point. I know from repeated experience that I am naive about most things, but from a scientific or purely philosophical point of view it makes perfect sense to me that a human being exists at conception. If not for the politics involved, I'm convinced that most reasonable people would agree.
I am a reasonable person, and it is inconceivable to me that anyone could look at a single cell, a cluster of cells, or an embryo and claim that it
is a human being. It may - possibly -
become a human being (odds are 2-to-1 against fertilized eggs surviving) but it is in no way, shape or form a human
being - by any stretch of the imagination - until it develops a fully functioning brain, which does not occur before the 24th week of gestation.
So, if I understand your point, at 24 weeks minus one hour it is perfectly alright, in your view, to dispose of the unborn by any means and for any reason?
Or how about 24 weeks minus two hours?
Three hours?
Twelve hours?
24 hours?
48 hours?
When does the unborn pass that magical line for you, Terry? And when do you measure the 24 weeks gestation from, exactly?
From the date of the last menstrual period?
From the date of the sexual activity that the mother thinks may have produced the unborn?
From the approximate dates made by doctors after measuring limb size, skull size, etc via ultrasound?
