On 8/27/2015 3:22 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 27 Aug 2015 14:06:02 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

My feelings about abortions and when life starts has absolutely no basis
in any religious views I may have. I believe that the
medical/scientific community defined when a fetus becomes viable and a
"life" begins that fit social pressures of the time.

===

I do not doubt your sincerity or integrity, and you're certainly
entitled to your beliefs. I'd argue however that your beliefs are
religious in nature whether you acknowledge it or not. I say that
because they appear to be based on faith that your instincts are
correct rather than on some rigorously defined criteria. The supreme
court and the scientific community have based their opinions and
decisions on the best available facts. I think it's commendable that
they did not allow themselves to be pressured by faith based belief
systems.

As a matter of curiosity, how do you feel about the termination of
life support systems for patients who have been declared "brain dead"?


Interesting that you brought up the subject of terminating life support
systems because I had added my feelings about that in a previous post
but deleted it to stay "on topic".

But first, be assured, my position on abortions has nothing to do with
religion. I am not a member of any church and I don't practice any kind
of religion.

Here's the thing with abortions. The push to legalize abortions began
in the 1960's leading to the Roe vs Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973.
It should be noted that 1973 was also when early, crude DNA sequencing
methods were first being developed.

Roe vs Wade set the standard of "viability" (initially 24 to 28 weeks)
as the measure for abortions. Viability meant the fetus or baby
(depending on what you believe) would *not* survive outside the womb
even when artificial measures were used to keep it .... get this ...
"alive". The term "viability" has become the measure of the fetus
(baby) being a human being or not.

Meanwhile, DNA sequencing has improved immensely since Roe vs Wade.
It has been recently determined that the fertilized, single cell that
starts at conception has *all* the DNA structure of a human being.
Half comes from the mother, the other half from the father.

So, that opens Pandora's Box in my mind. When *is* it a human being?

That all said, I am not a crusader to limit abortions. It's up to the
woman and what she believes.

As for termination of life support when brain dead, hopefully the
affected person executed a living will and/or a relative has proxy
to make that decision. I see that as a completely different issue
though. Being brain dead is a measurable state. When a fertilized
human egg becomes a human being isn't ... other than the DNA evidence
that I mentioned.

I have no problem with pulling life support for someone who has been
determined to be brain dead. I also support human euthanasia, based on
personal wishes by terminally ill people.

I am against the death penalty with very limited exceptions.