There is no historical tradition of abortion protection as a right of privacy for 3 obvious reasons. Most importantly, women never had a seat at the political table and a very limited audience at the public soapbox. 2nd, most women didn’t attend universities or have opportunities for careers outside the home. 3rd, safe and relatively sim…
There is no historical tradition of abortion protection as a right of privacy for 3 obvious reasons. Most importantly, women never had a seat at the political table and a very limited audience at the public soapbox. 2nd, most women didn’t attend universities or have opportunities for careers outside the home. 3rd, safe and relatively simple medical abortion procedures were not available. Only when all three of the above were remedied was there a strong movement to secure legal abortions as a right of privacy.
Another issue is a lack of understanding of embryology and fetal development. As death of the brain signifies the demise of a human being, despite the continued existence of “human life,” maintained non autonomously, so does the formation of a functioning frontal cortex (the sentient, pain and thirst perceiving part of the brain) signify the origin of a human being (again, distinct from “human life”) in the thinking of a moral secularist.
Ultrasound images of early term fetuses create the impression of a miniature “baby,” but there is a reason that the biologically correct term is “fetus,” and not “unborn baby,” much less “unborn child.” No, a 15 week product of conception is a brainless fetus, not an unborn child.
Even conservative Pope John Paul II deemed it morally licit to remove the still beating heart from brain dead “human life” for use in a transplant, thus terminating said “human life.”
Now, none of this speaks to the issue of what is termed “ensoulment,” which is a purely religious concept. A secularist may deem it immoral to force a term pregnancy of a truly sentient and autonomous woman, who has personal and private reasons for not wishing to endure this.
My own personal position would be to legally permit unrestricted abortion to 20 weeks, based on lack of a functioning frontal cortex until 25 weeks, at the earliest - with a 20 week “limit” enforced only in cases where there have been no political, social, or economic barriers in place to impede a women’s quest for abortion care prior to that time.
As for later term abortions, these are matters for more extended ethical consideration.
There is no historical tradition of abortion protection as a right of privacy for 3 obvious reasons. Most importantly, women never had a seat at the political table and a very limited audience at the public soapbox. 2nd, most women didn’t attend universities or have opportunities for careers outside the home. 3rd, safe and relatively simple medical abortion procedures were not available. Only when all three of the above were remedied was there a strong movement to secure legal abortions as a right of privacy.
Another issue is a lack of understanding of embryology and fetal development. As death of the brain signifies the demise of a human being, despite the continued existence of “human life,” maintained non autonomously, so does the formation of a functioning frontal cortex (the sentient, pain and thirst perceiving part of the brain) signify the origin of a human being (again, distinct from “human life”) in the thinking of a moral secularist.
Ultrasound images of early term fetuses create the impression of a miniature “baby,” but there is a reason that the biologically correct term is “fetus,” and not “unborn baby,” much less “unborn child.” No, a 15 week product of conception is a brainless fetus, not an unborn child.
Even conservative Pope John Paul II deemed it morally licit to remove the still beating heart from brain dead “human life” for use in a transplant, thus terminating said “human life.”
Now, none of this speaks to the issue of what is termed “ensoulment,” which is a purely religious concept. A secularist may deem it immoral to force a term pregnancy of a truly sentient and autonomous woman, who has personal and private reasons for not wishing to endure this.
My own personal position would be to legally permit unrestricted abortion to 20 weeks, based on lack of a functioning frontal cortex until 25 weeks, at the earliest - with a 20 week “limit” enforced only in cases where there have been no political, social, or economic barriers in place to impede a women’s quest for abortion care prior to that time.
As for later term abortions, these are matters for more extended ethical consideration.
- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA