Science and Our Interpretations
Scientific and medical opinion regarding the status of embryonic life has not shifted in the last three decades, according to Christian ethicist Paul D. Simmons. New technologies enable viewing the fetus during various stages of development but there are no instruments to measure the presence of personhood. While there is agreement about the gestational facts (that there are four stages of gestational development: zygote, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus) and that each person began with conception and implantation, that does not mean that every step along the continuum has the same value. Science provides the data of biological development; religion and personal values provide our sense of morality and the worth we attach to various entities. Functional physiological and neurological developments are required for one to become a person, but there are stages during gestation in which there is inadequate development to constitute an entity that should be accorded full legal or even religious status as a person. A person is a complex creature that has moved from genetic individuality (DNA) through functional, behavioral, physical and social dimensions. A genetic formula is not the equivalent of a person, nor is it “a person with potential.”
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QED. (which means thanks a lot for your comment, it proves my contention.) You'll begin LIFE and make intelligent comments only after you get an education? You're using God as an excuse to avoid the work.
I've read many of the comments. There's obviously an 'in group' that have commented, established "the experts". I see no well-known scientists. My conclusion, based on reading/studying biology & evolution (e.g. Matt Ridley, or even the popularized Sam Harris's "End of Faith") is that LIFE begins soon after one realizes that the anti- abortion concepts are without basis.
How do you scientifically prove that life begins after conception? You make an assertion without substantiating it.
Let's be honest. You believe in evolution therefore you believe might makes right. The weaker deserve to be destroyed by the stronger. There's nothing weaker than an unborn child.
However, if God created the world and instilled a moral compass by which to steer, murder is wrong. If you don't believe in God then how do you suscribe to any law? What makes murder of your neighbor wrong? Let's pass a bill that says if I can prove I'm more viable to society than my neighbor, he doesn't deserve to live and there's nothing wrong with me killing him.
All our laws are based on moral axioms. If you take away one, there's no reason to follow any of them.
Using some god as an arbiter of right and wrong is wildly dangerous unless you live in a completely homogeneous society. After all, many religions have a god, and they often have very different moral codes. To read up a bit on at least one variation on morals, check out Peter Singer ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Singer #Applied_ethics). His philosophy is quite up my alley, and might at the very least offer you a different perspective on how morality can work.
To put my perspective in a nutshell, "life", or "personhood", or whatever you want to call it, should be based on capacity for cognition. This does mean that there will be both levels of personhood as well as different types, as there are both levels of cognition and a wide array of cognitive abilities.
Actually it's amazing how moral codes regardless of belief systems are homogeneous. No one wants to be lied to or cheated on or stolen from etc.
You're still basing your personal beliefs on the premise that there are no absolutes just different perspectives. I maintain that there is God who created all of us and instilled the truth in every single one of us. If you have differing views on how you should treat others (e.g. killing the unborn) you have a common viewpoint with the rest of mankind concerning how YOU want to be treated. (e.g. no one has the right to kill me.)
Your last statement seems to imply an "uberman" philosophy: the smarter one is the greater right to life he has.
How do you justify killing animals for food or clothing? We are sufficiently advanced in our technology and knowledge such that it is not necessary for survival. While I do indeed believe that one that has greater cognitive powers has greater inherent value, that does not mean one with lower cognitive powers should be sacrificed for the former's pleasure, only for the former's need. As such, I will eat meat under certain situations where I feel it is merited by need or a sufficient advantage to myself, but I am otherwise vegetarian.
As to your view that God created all and instilled truth, how does that square with the vastly differing views on what that truth is? Any common morality can be explained using game theory. That is, either it is immoral to do to others what you wouldn't want done to you, or more broadly that which is wrong is so because of the negative impact on the society.
"A person is a complex creature that has moved from genetic individuality (DNA) through functional, behavioral, physical and social dimensions."
Based upon the Religious Coalitions thinking, an infant has probably not moved through enough "functional, behavioral, physical and social dimensions" to be considered a person.
What about a mentally challenged person? Would he or she be considered "complex" enough to be regarded as a person?
This argument by the Religious Coalition reveals the real danger that lurks in many pro- abortion arguments. Many of the criteria that are used to deprive the unborn of protection can be applied to other members of the human race. Starting down that road will lead us to some very dark places.
We already do withdraw protections from other members of the human race. To be human does not confer very many rights on its own. We frequently kill other fully adult humans. We have for a long time without sliding down your slippery slope.
It is a basic tenet of Natural Law that innocent human beings should not be intentionally killed.
The fundamental, and deadly, defect in this argument by the Religious Coalition is that if you start saying innocent life can be destroyed because it has not moved through enough "functional, behavioral, physical and social dimensions" to be considered a person, that standard can easily be applied to others beyond the unborn.
Does an infant pass the test? What about a mentally handicapped infant? What about someone in a coma? What about someone with Alzheimer's? Once you start making these types of judgments, you can easily end up like the Nazis, executing 70,000 mentally handicapped people (including Pope Benedict XVI's cousin), who were regarded as "useless mouths to feed."
I don't believe that it would be easy to end up like Nazis. For one thing, we have their cautionary example. I would also point out that we did intentionally kill innocent Germans and Japanese in our fight against fascism. We regretted it, but did it anyway. My point is that we already break this basic tenet of Natural Law - there is nothing absolute about it. So, 'innocent human beings should not be intentionally killed without a good reason' appears to be our practical standard.
You state their position as, "innocent life can be destroyed because it has not moved through enough 'functional, behavioral, physical and social dimensions' to be considered a person," but there is an additional important criteria once we go from "when does a human begin?" to "is abortion legal?" Their is now another person's well being at stake. Any rights we assign to the fetus will always need to be compared to those of the pregnant woman when we consider the implications of abortion.
It is a mistake to base our morality on actions taken during a war that could have ended civilization as we know it. Things were done that might not have been done in less dire circumstances. Unless a mother is actually going to die unless an abortion is performed, I do not see how wartime morality applies to an abortion in a suburban clinic.
I hope you are right about it being difficult to end up like the Nazis. However, I think it is critical that we stamp out elements of their ideology whenever it raises its ugly head.
With regard to the rights of the mother, unless she was actually going to lose her life, I do not see how her interests would outweigh the child's right to life. In addition, the mother probably does not recognize the trauma the abortion will inflict on her until it is too late.