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To: tkathy
The sad truth is that you can't legislate morality. Morality comes from within, not with draconian big government laws.

I think you're right. I also think the abortion issue is the age old problem of individual vs the collective. In the case of abortion women, in particular, are for an individual rights interpretation of abortion. Christian fundamentalists favor the collective concept of abortion being regulated by government. Conversely, gun control is favored as a collective right by those that favor abortion as an individual right. The "crux" of both issues is over the control of life and death. Who has it, who doesn't.

21 posted on 10/04/2003 1:02:58 PM PDT by elbucko
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To: elbucko
When Do Human Beings Begin? the lives of human beings--and human persons--begin at conception. Personhood Begins At Conception explains what exactly a "person" is. Is the Unborn Less Than Human?explains why it does not make sense to argue that a human being is created at implantation, quickening, or birth. When Does a Human Become a Person? demonstrates why other functional criteria given for personhood--such as sentience, brain development, and viability--are inadequate. He then refutes the "gradualist" position. Finally, he discusses the positions of various abortion and infanticide advocates. Does Life Begin At Implantation? addresses the phenomena of monozygotic twinning, hydatiform moles, choriocarcinoma, blighted ova, cloning, and fertilization wastage, that fail to disprove the position that human life begins at conception. Scientific and Philosophical Expertise: An Evaluation of the Arguments on Personhood -- positions which assert that early human embryos are not persons are based on inadequate philosophical principles and faulty scientific data. The Human Rational Soul in the Early Embryo discusses the various theories of "ensoulment" A Survey of Arguments for Immediate versus Delayed Animation critically analyzes the theory of mediate animation. The Tiniest Humans -- an interview with the renowned geneticist Jerome Lejeune and the father of modern embryology, Sir Albert William Liley

Some abortion advocates are willing to concede that unborn children are human beings. Surprisingly enough, they claim that they would still be able to justify abortion. According to their argument, no person-no unborn child-has a right to access the bodily resources of an unwilling host. Unborn children may have a right to life, but that right to life ends where it encroaches upon a mother's right to bodily autonomy. The argument is called the bodyright argument.

The Bodyright Argument: A Pro-life Response -- comprehensive analysis of the bodyright argument, including a discussion of the various pro-abortion analogies to pregnancy, and a refutation of the positions of Philosophers Judith Thomson, Susan Mattingly, Patricia Jung, Frances Kamm, Margaret Little and others. The Changing Pro-Life Argument: Does the Humanity of the Unborn Matter Anymore? introduces and refutes the famous argument from "bodily rights". A Woman's Right Over Her Body? addresses arguments in defense of abortion that are based on a woman's "right" to control her own body. Unplugging a Bad Analogy refutes a famous argument put forth by philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson. Abortionists, Violinists and Burglars addresses Thomson's arguments from a different angle. A Fetus is NOT a Parasite chordate embryologist Dr. Thomas L. Johnson. Begging the Question explains why the statement "a woman has a right to control her own body" begs the basic question in the abortion debate--is she only affecting her own body when she aborts?

What many people fail to realize is that most of the arguments used to justify killing unborn children could be used with just as much force to justify killing newborn children and, in some cases, even full-grown adults.

I Was Once a Fetus -- mathematician and philosopher Dr. Alexander Pruss .The Real Problem with Abortion -- examines two competing positions on the issue--the position of moderate pro-life advocate Don Marquis and the position of liberal abortion advocate Mary Anne Warren. McNeil concludes that neither position sufficiently explains why it is wrong to kill human beings, and introduces his own viewpoint.

24 posted on 10/04/2003 1:06:39 PM PDT by Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
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