[Cool Guy]

Who has the higher capacity for suffering: an adult raccoon, or a 3 week old fetus? I say the raccoon.

I am on your side on the big picture, Pro-life and am not happy about killing animals, but I am not sure where you are getting at here.

I think between the two, the raccoon has better survivability skills, more natural protection compared to the fetus and also the fetus depends on the human being who is carrying it. The woman who is carrying the baby is morally obligated to bring it to life and impart survivability skills into the child, while we do not have the same obligation to a raccoon. I do not see any facts that lead me to beleive that the Raccoon has more feeling than the Fetus, while they are killed. If I have to decide between protecting a fetus and a Raccoon, I would go with protecting the fetus.

[Fraulein]

You are right about raccoons having better survival and protective skills. Those masked bandits are fiesty, clever little creatures! :)

I think that an adult raccoon has a higher capacity for feeling pain than a three week old fetus only because a three week old fetus does not yet have a central nervous system. But, you are right, that does not mean that we have no moral obligation to the fetus. Once again, we can care about both, and for different reasons.