My son was born 1 week prematurely. He was no less a person 1 minute before he was born or 1 minute after he was born. Many people, even those who have pro abortion rights views tend to be repulsed by the idea of late term abortions, i.e., partial birth. Because even though they’re all pro-woman’s rights, and all that, they still view this brutal process as infanticide.
So with that “viability” or self sustained life outside the womb as a baseline, many make their peace with the issue. I.e., if the baby isn’t viable, “it” is nothing more than just that, an it, a blob of tissue, some flesh inside the woman’s body, and like the appendix, expendable.
If you can square yourself with this, then the sticky issue of medical technology rears it’s ugly head. For instance, they can now keep very small “premies” alive outside the womb. 28 weeks and earlier. 10 years ago, this technology did not exist or was not as advanced. So if a baby wasn’t a baby at 28 weeks 10 years ago, but is a baby now because our technology has advanced, then will a baby be a baby at 20 weeks in another 10 years? And sooner after that? Is the “personhood” of the person based solely on our ability to sustain the person’s life outside the womb? Or is their personhood based on something else? When do they actually “become” a person? That’s what’s at the core of the discussion.
Again, if you’ve seen a baby born, you would agree with me. They are a person; it’s just a question of on which side of the vagina. So if you can follow this and agree with it in part or in whole, then it’s a question of timing. If you can get your mind around that, then I’ll talk to you about days. I.e., so it’s a person on this day, but the day before it wasn’t a person? I have a hard time with that. They are people, they’re just unborn.
