Dear Editor,
We have found ourselves caught up in a debate resulting from a
criticism of the Bush Administration’s preference for junk science.
The Bush defenders quickly turned it into an abortion debate with a
commentary on the evils of liberalism.
Dear Editor,
We have found ourselves caught up in a debate resulting from a criticism of the Bush Administration’s preference for junk science. The Bush defenders quickly turned it into an abortion debate with a commentary on the evils of liberalism.
The main players in this drama have been Mr. Kaeini and his supporters on the right and for the left, Mr. Taylor. Mr. Brescoll, who recently joined the debate, takes the libertarian side, and Ms. Apuzzo defends the feminist view.
Mr. Kaeini attempted to make some kind of fundamental (basic) philosophical point when he asked: Is a dead man any less a human being because he is not breathing? In a word, yes. The simple expansion is this, the term “human being” refers to a viable life. Death terminates that viability and the person becomes a human corpse.
The difficulty in this debate, as with all debates, is the inability of a few participants to separate their emotions from the facts. An unborn, depending on the stage of development, is in factual terms an embryo or a fetus, not a child. Only after surviving the birth process does it become a viable human being, and a child. Life plus viability equals being.
Mr. Brescoll’s definition may be offensive, but it is factual, the embryo or fetus during gestation meets all the requirements for the biological classification of a parasite.
When does life begin? Or maybe the question is what is life? These questions, depending on the motive for asking, can be answered in a few ways. Well, there is life at conception there was also life in the single cells before there was conception. The only problem is the limited definition of that life.
It takes six to 10 days after conception before the fertilized egg reaches the uterus in order to implant itself in the uterine wall. After which it develops into a placenta, then an embryo. Is that when life begins?
Maybe life begins with the first heart beat, as Mr. Kaeini has suggested. But the heart does not start to beat for five to six weeks after it becomes an embryo. That definition would also limit the abortion issue. An embryo becomes a fetus only at the end of the first trimester.
When does life begin? I think the question is irrelevant. What is important is when does life become a human being? At birth.
Mr. Kaeini tried to include another irrelevant issue, that was the debate over “late term partial birth abortions.” These type of abortions are only done in the event of severe birth defects or to save the mother’s life. These are controlled by state laws, first trimester abortions are not.
The method used in the “late term abortions” requires that saline be injected into the embryonic sac or a prostaglandin hormone be injected into the uterus in order the induce labor, hence the name “partial birth abortion.”
Mr. Kaeini also took a big gamble on some old twisted propaganda when he wrote, “Using ultrasound methods, they showed that the baby actually tried to defend itself and struggling to get away from the tools used to kill it.” This was taken from a 1980s propaganda film/book titled “The Silent Scream,” which allegedly portrayed the abortion of a 12-week-old embryo.
All one has to do is take the time to THINK. Fear is a learned response to danger. It is not an instinctive response. That is why infants, toddlers, and older children are so often injured in circumstances that adults have learned is hazardous. Therefore, how is it possible for an embryo that us only 12 weeks old to logically conclude that it is in danger, as it has been alleged?
Harold D. Williams, Gilroy
