RE: Abortion -cpr on the fetus?
July 3, 2015 at 7:08 pm
(This post was last modified: July 3, 2015 at 7:17 pm by bennyboy.)
(July 3, 2015 at 6:17 pm)answer-is-42 Wrote: You sir or madam do not know what you are talking about. Between the 2 of us, one of us has an MD. It's not you. Additionally I agree that neuronal development accelerates at 28 weeks, but that does NOT mean that it hasn't already stated. Premature infants are born at < 28 weeks and survive. Some are developmentally delayed, but that is irrelevant to the moral discussion. You are now going into the territory of determining a worthwhile life and that is a different slippery slope. My question was primarily of survival. By the way, I have personally cared for an infant born at 24 weeks due to medical complication /emergency (ecclampsia) she had a Rough initial road but is a very happy 9 year old now.
Again, stick to what you know (it ain't biology) and talk about the morality of allowing a living fetus to die outside the body of another without medical support that isnknown and available. You still haven't given a good Moral arguement for this.
Let's start with the philosophical basis for not killing one's children, at any age, post-partum. Why shouldn't I decide that my 5 year-old son isn't developing properly and pull the plug? The answer, I think, is that he has a name, and feelings, and memories, and most of the other things that define human EXPERIENCE. It's not because his heart is beating: if he were chronically unable to experience anything (like if he were brain dead), we would be fine with pulling the plug.
Some animals, like adult pigs, have developed a higher intelligence than a new-born infant. They also have memories and feelings. And yet, we'll slit a pig's throat in a second for a couple slices of bacon. Why is this?
The answer is that this is not so much a philosophical question as an emotional question dressed in philosophical clothing. Or a religious one. You see a fetus as a person, and start having fantasies about what it could be some day. What dies is not that person, which currently has no more to feel than a tadpole, and probably less. What dies are your fantasies-- and I don't see why a pregnant woman should be burdened with maintaining your happy daydreams.
