“Life Begins at Conception”

"you knit me together in my mother's womb."

Well, that claims that life begins at somepoint during the nine months of pregnancy, a point that I don't actually dispute.  No reference there as to what point the soul enters the newly forming body, never mind any support for the idea that it happens at the instant of fertilization.

Well inmost being sounds like soul, and it's not like anyone can say what a soul is, so they can technically use the bible to argue that a clump of cells is a human.

I'm pro-choice myself, and I totally agree with the amazing atheist's recent Kill Babies Lulz video, I'm just saying from what the bible says. And a lot of christians are saying jesus' completing of the laws includes modifying them, their logic not mine.

I like to use consciousness as the definition of life's beginning.  Surely it's not wrong to kill living sperm or egg cells, even though they are the precursors to life.  They're just complex arrangements of molecules which fall under the biological category of "alive".  Conversely, if it's a crime to kill an infant the day after birth, why shouldn't it be the day before, when the infant is thinking, can recognize it's mother's voice, and can move freely?

But, back to consciousness, why does it matter to the unborn baby if it is aborted, when it has no mental phenomena, no knowledge of its own existence, no experience of pain?  Why, if you were that early-term fetus, you wouldn't have any mental experience at all.  You don't exist yet.  The brain and nervous system are simply not developed well enough.  Your body exists, sure, but what rational reason can we have for using the body's existence as a criteria for life?  An early-term fetus is quite analogous to the "complex arrangement of molecules" we see in other living things that don't deserve our protection.  How can it be unethical to take the life of a golf-ball sized fetus, when it does not suffer, or when we are not cutting it's conscious experience short?  Or if you think this IS cutting conscious experience short, then why can't it be said the same of the billions of sperm cells in each man's body?

In Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion, page 333, he discusses some thoughts on abortion:  "A certain kind of religious mind cannot see the moral difference between killing a microscopic cluster of cells on the one hand, and killing a full-grown doctor on the other.......The Army of God made it their business to set fire to abortion clinics, and they have made no secret of their desire to kill doctors.  On July 29, 1994, Paul Hill took a shotgun and murdered Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard James Barrett outside Britton's clinic in Pensacola, Florida.  He then gave himself up to the police, saying he had killed the doctor to prevent the future deaths of 'innocent babies.'" 

NKHart

I find that those against abortion fail to understand that though the potential life of the unborn baby is important, the already existing life of the mother is important too. She'll have to bare the unwanted child, whatever the reason for it's conception, and it will put a considerable burden on her for which she might not be prepared to handle.

Choice is such an important thing, because one is able to say yes or no, regardless of the reasons behind the decision. Of course, such decisions must be well informed, as abortion is a pretty serious procedure, and is not at all easy on the women who choose to go through with it. However, the choice must be there, along with the necessary facilities and support for those wishing to go through the procedure, for whatever reason.

Why some people don't understand this issue with choice, baffles me. But then again, it simply boils down to religious dogma.

-Bluefinger v1.25-

Knowledge may be free, but human stupidity is infinite...