[fortheDeclaration]

The issue is when does human life begin.

For many it is when the fetus breathes on its own outside the womb.

That is the basis for Roe vs Wade is it not?

No one is denying that the fetus is alive and that it is a potential human being.

[r9etb]

No one is denying that the fetus is alive and that it is a potential human being.

This is a position that reduces morality to a matter of technological progress -- it is, in other words, relative and not objective. To see the problem, consider preemie babies who've survived -- the earliest on record being born at about 21 weeks.

By your standard, 21 weeks would have to be the de facto current standard for the beginnings of "human" life, but that is in large part a matter of technology. We can probably anticipate improved medical techniques that allow even more premature babies to survive.

But, of course, the real issue is much more basic -- and much less supportable on so-called "objectivist" grounds.

The argument over whether a child is "human" or not depends in large part on whether or not the mother wants to be pregnant in the first place. If she wants the baby, it's "human." Otherwise, it's a mere "fetus."

[Aquinasfan]

For many it is when the fetus breathes on its own outside the womb. That is the basis for Roe vs Wade is it not?

No. The court took a basically agnostic position (which is problmatic for courts which must try murder cases).

My understanding is that Roe v. Wade legalized abortion through the first trimester, and its companion case, Doe v. Bolton, allowed abortion in cases involving the "health of the mother." Psychological health was included under the definition of health, thus effectively legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.

[eleni121]

"For many it is when the fetus breathes on its own outside the womb. "

No it is when the genetic material from egg and sperm are united. This is the moment when human life begins.

"That is the basis for Roe vs Wade is it not?"

This fundamentally flawed decision introduced definitions out of whole cloth, not based on legal tradition. Fetuses do not become human as they already are. The do not become human at the time of delivery...they are simply moving along in the maturation process as all humans are.

Your point about breathing on one's own as a marker of human life makes no sense for many reasons, but one concerns more mature humans who cannot breathe on their own at different stages in their lives.

Here is a website for more info:

http://unbornperson.com/section_3.htm