[Steve]
I was trying to address the issue of trying to draw a line during the
development of a fetus between a human person that we will give rights
to and a mass of cells that we don't give rights to. Anti-abortionists
think that the only place where we can meaningfully draw a line is at
conception. It is this assumption that I am criticizing. I think we
can draw real lines for distinguishing humanity during fetal
development because we already do draw a real line for distinguishing
humanity from nonhuman ancestors. And the line that we decide to draw
would be as real as the one we've already drawn. Drawing the line at 2
weeks, 4 weeks, 9 weeks, etc. would be no more arbitrary than drawing
the line at some point in time between homo sapiens sapiens and
previous ancestors. At some point our ancestors were not just animals
but human beings with human rights, and we can say the same thing
about a developing fetus at some point in gestation.
[Krimel]
Actually the Roe v Wade decision is a brilliant exercise in
jurisprudence and the line they drew was the age of viability. Prior
to that time, about 28 weeks, all of the rights accrue to the mother's
wishes; after that time the rights increasingly shift toward the fetus.
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