heahd@tellab1.UUCP (Dan Wood) (07/12/84)
>>Here is my simple minded position: >>The fetus is a human since it is a necessary stage of human development. >>The fetus is alive. >>The fetus has a right to come to term since it is alive. >>The rights of the fetus have priority over the rights of the parents. >>The fetus needs protection since it is defensless(which is why it is >>within the mother's body in the first place). >>Both parents have obligations to the fetus and have rights to the fetus. Vince Marchionni Simple minded is right. The majority of this article seemed well reasoned and made sense. I agree that it is not valid to compare a human fetus to any stage of development of another life form (I see no evidence that man is the highest life form on this planet). The concluding paragraph however broke all bounds of logic. What twisted path did Mr. Marchionni follow to come to the conclusion that "The rights of the fetus have priority over the rights of the parents" ? Given the choice between the life of my wife and the life of the fetus that she is currently carrying, I'd choose that of my wife every time and to hell with the rights of the fetus. I can see it now "Sorry honey, but the fetus's rights have priority over yours so you'll just have to die so the doctor can save the fetus". Hogwash! The abortion issue is indeed a very complex one and should not be reduced to a few simple minded statements. As I see it (and I am probably as guilty of simple mindedness as Mr. M), abortion is not a social problem except to the extent that responsible citizens wind up paying for the irresponsible breeding habits of other citizens. It is an ethical, philosophical, and religious problem. These however are very subjective areas. The decision to abort or not to abort must be a decision made by a woman, her doctor, and her god. It should not and must not be made by the legislature or by a bunch of self righteous, fanatic right to lifers who think their morals should be forced on the rest of the population. >> When the fetus is removed it usually dies. This is observed fact. Exactly. In my view, as long as the fetus cannot survive separation from the mother without extreme medical intervention it is essentially a part of the mother's body much like any other organ that cannot "live" when separated from the body. It is not up to anybody else to tell a woman what she can do with a part of her body. I don't think the beginning of life should be marked as the moment of conception or the moment of birth, but somewhere in between when both independent heart beat and brain waves are present. We mark the end of life as the moment when neither of these phenomena are present, it seems reasonable to me to mark the beginning of life at the point when both phenomena are first present. I am not necessarily in favor of abortion, but I am against one group of people restricting the actions of an individual regarding his or her own body.