Archive for February, 2006
U.S. abortion debate requires reasoning for both lives
Photo credit: Josh Stein
Murder, torture, baby-killing. These are only some of the epithets used by self-righteous pro-lifers to intimidate and guilt those with a conscience away from abortion. On the flip side, pro-choicers often claim abortion is really just getting rid of a bundle of unwanted cells. How can our society justify abortion or make it illegal?
There are two clear sides of the issue. It’s difficult not to think of a pregnancy as creating a human being, if nothing else because it has the potential to become one. But I can also see how a girl who didn’t want the pregnancy would have difficulty viewing the fetus in its early stages as a person - it doesn’t look like one and hasn’t reached the stage where you can feel it moving inside you. It’s hard to honestly tell someone who terminated a five-week pregnancy she murdered a human being.
But at five months, it’s difficult not to accuse. At that point, human characteristics are definitely present; you can see it, you can feel it move. So what happened between five weeks and five months that made the difference? Where do we draw the line?
