Comments on Blag Hag: Non-religious arguments for being pro-choice?

I'm still divided with regards to abortion and...

2011-11-21T22:10:20.956-08:00

I'm still divided with regards to abortion and pro-life. For me, it's unethical and immoral to abort if the baby's almost at the end phase of fetal development.

From Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan.. http://www.2think...

2011-09-25T00:20:25.019-07:00

From Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan..
http://www.2think.org/abortion.shtml

As usual, Jesus and Mo hit the nail on the head.

Although the above is true in many cases, it is not true in all. The argument between the so-called pro-life and pro-choice positions isn't about choice, it's about life. For example, pro-choice folks don't support the right of parents to kill their (maturely born) children; here, they are happy to deny parents this choice. So, at least in the cases where the pro-life people seem genuinely concerned about loss of life, one has to explain the difference between aborting a fetus at various times during the pregnancy.

Some pro-life folks reject birth control as well. At least this is a logical position. If they don't, and if they aren't opposed to the IUD, ask them why the IUD (which works (partially) by preventing fertilized eggs from nesting in the womb) is OK and abortion is not.

Also, ask them if they have funerals when a woman has her period a few days late. In many cases, this is due to an early spontaneous death of the embryo. It wasn't actively killed, but in general funerals are held for all people who die, not just those who are killed.

I also think it would improve the credibility of the pro-choice movement if a distinction were made between early and late-term abortions. The line might be blurry, but one has to draw it somewhere. A late-term abortion, at a fetal age at which the fetus could survive a premature birth, is something completely different than an early abortion. If you don't believe me, watch one. Since any woman who wants to abort for non-medical reasons will not wait that long, nothing is lost by requiring larger hurdles for late-term than for early abortions.

yeah, i'm with Emily here, did you mean pro-li...

2011-09-20T07:19:20.735-07:00

yeah, i'm with Emily here, did you mean pro-life?

The book "Abortion & Common Sense" b...

2011-09-20T00:28:13.259-07:00

The book "Abortion & Common Sense" by Ruth Dixon-Mueller, Ph.D and Paul K. B. Dagg, MD is reputedly good for med students in particular.

My approach is to argue a spectrum of personhood. ...

2011-09-19T19:26:45.477-07:00

My approach is to argue a spectrum of personhood.

The idea that a fetus is a "baby" gets pretty ridiculous when you imagine an invisible fertilized human egg cell being equated with a one-trillion-cell newborn. It's not that the newborn is a trillion times more complex than the single cell. It's that it's far more complex, with all the cells hooked up to make a working person.

Another angle on this argument: PETA has a slogan, "A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy." That is, they want to deny the value spectrum between vermin, livestock, pets, and people. To most of us, it's a ridiculous argument. And the same is true when pro-lifers equate a single cell with a newborn.

I'm a little confused... did your friend want ...

2011-09-19T17:34:39.817-07:00

I'm a little confused... did your friend want non-religious arguments for being pro-CHOICE? Or pro-life? Because finding a non-religious argument for being pro-choice is easy. I'd respond but it just seems too easy, if that makes sense.