First off, let’s define the word murder. Murder is defined as the unlawful premeditated killing of one person by another person. So already we run into two issues, first off, murder is unlawful and abortion is not. Second, is the assumption that a fetus or an embryo is legally a person, and when you make that assumption, things begin to get really dicey. The difference between a baby and an embryo is that a baby is a person, a living, breathing, fully functioning organism. An embryo is a fertilized egg which is the moment that many pro-lifers argue is the moment life begins. Comparing the two, a person has the liability to communicate and express themselves, an embryo does not. A person has the ability to think and reason and learn,
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First of all you start with fertilization or conception, but the fertilized egg doesn’t even reach the uterus until about a week later, which is when pregnancy officially begins, according to the law. And all the the characteristics in which we use to identify a person, show up at different points during the time time of a pregnancy. The heart does not develop until about six weeks, the brain and spinal cord don't even begin to show up until week 13. Lungs aren’t able to start processing oxygen until week 24, brain function does not typically begin until week 26, and coordination doesn’t usually begin until week 33. But i’m not an expert about field development nor am I here to lecture about it, my point is when it comes to determining when life begins and when a fetus begins to have legal rights, it’s an extremely complex and in depth debate. Again, so much of the criteria used to describe personhood shows up at different points within the timeline of pregnancy. One thing is definitely certain, a zygote is not the same thing as a baby. So when you argue that abortion and contraception are baby murder, it makes for a compelling visual, but a bad argument; at least from a legal and intellectual standpoint. This is what you would call, an appeal to emotion. Something that is more meant to tug at your heartstrings than
First of all you start with fertilization or conception, but the fertilized egg doesn’t even reach the uterus until about a week later, which is when pregnancy officially begins, according to the law. And all the the characteristics in which we use to identify a person, show up at different points during the time time of a pregnancy. The heart does not develop until about six weeks, the brain and spinal cord don't even begin to show up until week 13. Lungs aren’t able to start processing oxygen until week 24, brain function does not typically begin until week 26, and coordination doesn’t usually begin until week 33. But i’m not an expert about field development nor am I here to lecture about it, my point is when it comes to determining when life begins and when a fetus begins to have legal rights, it’s an extremely complex and in depth debate. Again, so much of the criteria used to describe personhood shows up at different points within the timeline of pregnancy. One thing is definitely certain, a zygote is not the same thing as a baby. So when you argue that abortion and contraception are baby murder, it makes for a compelling visual, but a bad argument; at least from a legal and intellectual standpoint. This is what you would call, an appeal to emotion. Something that is more meant to tug at your heartstrings than