Re: New Abortion Quiz

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Yates" <billyates@billyates.com>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: New Abortion Quiz

> Let's get down to basics...
>
> * Humans begin as the union of sperm and egg.
> * The DNA of the fertilized egg is human DNA, a combination of the
> parent's DNA.
> * The fertilized egg is HUMAN, a human being, albeit in a very early stage
> of development.
> * The fertilized egg is ALIVE. It takes in energy from the mother and
> grows.
> * Therefore, we can accurately describe the fertilized egg as a LIVING
> HUMAN BEING.
> * We apply different terms to the developing human being depending on its
> stage of development.
> * Despite the different terms--blastocyst, embryu, fetus, baby--the
> developing human being is STILL A LIVING HUMAN BEING.
> * At the earlier stages of development, the developing human being is
> incapable of self-sustaining its life.
> * The fact that it is incapable of self-sustaining life does not negate or
> invalidate its essential character as a LIVING HUMAN BEING.
> * At various points in the human life span--infancy, accident, illness,
> during surgery--a person may be incapable of self-sustaining life.
> * The fact that one may be incapable of self-sustaining life does not
> negate or invalidate one's essential character as a LIVING HUMAN BEING.
> * The fact that one may be less capable than another of performing certain
> acts, ranging from cognition to ambulation, due to birth defect, accident,
> or illness, does not negate or invalidate their essential character as a
> LIVING HUMAN BEING.
> * Human beings are intrinsically significant and of value, not only to
> other human beings, but even more importantly, to God.
> * Therefore, the taking of any human life is an act of great import and
> not to be taken lightly.
> * There are very limited circumstances when the taking of human life is
> allowed: self-defense and war.
> * The taking of a human life for the convenience of another is immoral as
> it reduces the victim to the role of commodity for the pleasure of another
> and denies their essential worth as a human being.
> * Abortion, from sacrificing a fertilized egg for its stem cells, to
> "partial birth abortion", is the taking of a HUMAN LIFE.

Bill -

    One thing that is problematic about your argument is the apparently
innocuous little word "a" as in "a living human being." The reason that
that's questionable is that for a few days after conception (I will let the
embryologists try to say just when) it is possible for the conceptus to
develop into _two_ - or even more - living human beings. Thus one cannot
speak unambiguously of _a_ human being at such early stages of development.
This suggests that one can take a strong position against abortion of a
fetus at later stages of development and still hold consistently that
destruction of a conceptus at very early stages, for stem cell research or
other reasons, may be legitimate.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
 
Received on Wed Oct 13 17:21:15 2004