(August 5, 2015 at 3:05 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:(August 5, 2015 at 2:08 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: That is uncertain. Ask robvalue about that if needed. If they had chosen an abortion, the fetus would not now be regretting anything in the decision.
(That, by the way, is not a suggestion that they ought to have gotten one. It is just a matter of fact about the outcome.)
You are correct, it is uncertain. Everyone else I have met who has been adopted has been very grateful that their parents (or just mother) chose to let them live and a chance at a good life.
I'm sure there are people out there who wish they had gotten killed, but that's not the default type of thinking when referring to someone's existence.
My objection is to there being a "default type of thinking" on the question at all. The simple fact is, one cannot know in advance if a child's life will be more good than bad. What one is doing is taking a chance and, presumably, hoping for the best. The thing is, one is taking a chance on someone else's life, not one's own. And that is why it is morally problematic.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
