Another Abortion Post
posted by Amy on February 6, 2009 at 11:15 AM in News, Life Issues
News story from Florida:
Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic
outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to
terminate her 23-week pregnancy.
Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair, medicated to dilate her cervix and otherwise get her ready for the procedure.
Only
Renelique didn't arrive in time. According to Williams and the Florida
Department of Health, she went into labor and delivered a live baby
girl.
What Williams and the Health Department say happened next
has shocked people on both sides of the abortion debate: One of the
clinic's owners, who has no medical license, cut the infant's umbilical
cord. Williams says the woman placed the baby in a plastic biohazard
bag and threw it out.
Police recovered the decomposing remains in a cardboard box a week later after getting anonymous tips.
My question is, if killing the baby would have been fine a few minutes earlier while it was still in the womb, why is it so terrible that the baby was killed after it was born? Biologically, philosophically, ethically, ontologically - what is the change that takes place when the baby passed from inside the mother to the outside? Is it mere location that determines whether or not a baby is a human deserving of basic human rights?
There are some that will argue that an embryo or fetus in early stages of developement cannot be considered the moral equivalent of a fully developed baby outside the womb. Ok, so at one point DO they become equivalent? Of what species is the fetus, what kind of thing is it, if not human? And by that same logic, does that mean that a baby is not the moral equivalent of a fully developed adult person? So if someone murders a 6-month old, is that not as bad as murdering a 26 year-old?
I am well aware of and somewhat sympathetic to the numerous other reasons why people are ok with
abortion. But as well-intentioned and serious as such arguments may be,
they are all just arguments used to justify murdering another human
being. If that is cool with your conscience - well you have to answer
for yourself. It will never, ever be ok with my conscience.
(HT: Crunchy Con)
...
P.S. This is not the thing I mentioned yesterday that I want to blog about - still not ready yet.)
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