My views on abortion, personal perspective.

I have many views on abortion, I am sort of on the fence about it, leaning towards pro-life however.

What I feel about abortion is that it should only be done in extreme circumstances such as: when the woman is raped, or the woman's health is endangered if she were to carry the baby to term.

However, when I think about it from a purely logical circumstance, feelings aside, I can totally understand why many women get abortions. If they're young, not in a financially viable situation, or don't want to bring a baby into their current lifestyle (whether that is an unstable family life or in the middle of school or a career, etc).

I think that my opinion on abortion may change, if I ever got pregnant, and I think that is an important thing to consider. It is easy to take a stance on this issue, but until someone is in the position to choose to abort a pregnancy or not, that's when the real feelings would come out, IMO. If I did get pregnant now (I am only 19), I would probably consider abortion more seriously. I guess what I am trying to say is that it is easy to voice an opinion on this issue but when it comes down to it, it is nearly impossible to draw a final/unchanging conclusion on abortion unless you have been in the position of considering an abortion.

I also have a feeling that this topic is going to end up in a debate about when a person becomes a person (ie, when sperm meets egg, when implantation occurs, when the baby is born, etc); and I think we should stay away from that. It is hugely debated, and I don't think anyone is in a position to really answer that question. If anyone wants to talk about the 'murder' of a baby/fetus, they should not state things as fact, because I don't think even the scientific community has a definite answer for when a sperm and an egg become a person.

I don't know when the fetus becomes a person, but when you are the size of a pea, not just one part of you, I mean when your entire body is the size of a pea, you have a heart beat. At this moment you are a living being.


After all when you don't have a heart beat that counts for being dead doesn't it?

that does sound logical, but like i said, not even the scientific community has an answer to when a person becomes a person. i personally feel that the sperm/egg becomes a person when implantation occurs. that's when the embryo begins being nourished by the mother and the cells begin dividing rapidly. the more radical groups of people (often religious) even argue that the sperm/egg becomes a person when they meet- therefore they consider the morning after pill PlanB to be a form of abortion. others, like yourself, think the person is a person when a heartbeat is present, or when the baby is capable of independance outside of the womb. anyways, we can totally discuss this- i just don't think anyone should present anything as fact- since nothing has been proven anyways.

There is no point in discussing when a fetus or embryo becomes a human.
There is no answer, anyone who asserts and answer is just stating their opinion.

This is a paradigmatic example of the “paradox of the Heap”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_the_heap

Everyone agrees that a fetus the day b4 birth is a human, and
Everyone agrees that a zygote (the first cell egg+sperm) isn’t a human
So when does it become a human?
Never, there is no point when it does. But it does.
It’s a paradox, philosophers have looked at this for a long time.
So have scientists. There is no biological indicator of being “human”

I didn't say that at that stage your human

I said at that stage you are alive.

well if you want to get technical... the simple fact that cells are dividing proves life. from zygote to embryo- there is life. cells are living. so you are living far before you ever have a heartbeat.

and if you aren't a "human" at that stage, what are you? just because you don't have a heartbeat doesn't mean you are a sheep or a crocodile. we are always humans, we just aren't necessarily always PEOPLE.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dutch.lover

well if you want to get technical... the simple fact that cells are dividing proves life. from zygote to embryo- there is life. cells are living. so you are living far before you ever have a heartbeat.

and if you aren't a "human" at that stage, what are you? just because you don't have a heartbeat doesn't mean you are a sheep or a crocodile. we are always humans, we just aren't necessarily always PEOPLE.

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Just because there are living cells, and they are human cells, doesn't really make it an actual human life. Can those cells feel pain? Can those cells THINK? Can those cells feel emotion? Do those cells even know they are there?

Of course not, because at that point, no brain is present. No heart, no organs. If you lopped off your finger, the cells would still be alive for a bit, and they are human cells, but does that make a severed finger a human??? No, because it doesn't have thoughts or feelings and if you stabbed that finger again it wouldn't feel a thing. It lacks a brain and heart and other organs which are essential to living. Once cut off from its life source(YOU), it won't be able to live very long at all. And thus the same with a clump of multiplying baby cells smaller than the size of a grain of rice.

being human is a genetic thing. a severed finger isn't A human, but it is human.

we aren't debating whether or not something is human. we are debating whether or not something is a PERSON- which is really what you are talking about when you are talking about having viable organs, and having thoughts and feelings- right?

you said "Once cut off from its life source(YOU), it won't be able to live very long at all." therefore I guess you would fall into the category of people who belive that a fetus is a person when it is potentially viable outside of the womb.