Posted on 11/07/2004 5:05:16 AM PST by conservativecorner
A few weeks ago, I went to lunch at a diner in Mount Vernon with Rick Marino, a moral philosopher disguised as a home renovation contractor. The subject turned to pregnancy and ultrasound. A decade ago, when I was having my last crop of kids, the pictures came out fuzzy. The doctor would point - "These are the fingers" or "There is the head" - and I'd nod. In truth, I couldn't make much of the blurry images.
Today's ultrasound photos come in 3-D and color. At 18 weeks you can easily discern fingers and facial features. At seven months, you have a fully recognizable human baby. It's so clear that even a man can see it.
For a couple of hundred bucks a pregnant woman can go to the mall nowadays and have a picture taken of her baby. Or even a video with a musical soundtrack.
Rick and I were marveling over this when we were interrupted by the waitress. "You guys talking about ultrasounds?" she asked. At first I missed the edge in her voice.
"Amazing, aren't they?" I asked.
"They're going to be used against women," the waitress snapped. She was obviously ready to sacrifice a tip to make a point.
She was right, of course. Ultrasound images are already changing the perception of abortion. Once, the idea of fetal humanity was a matter of religious conviction. Now, it is an observable fact. If you don't believe me, go to Google Images on the Internet and type in: Ultrasound, 30 weeks.
The implications are both political and philosophical.
In the new Bush administration, abortion is going to become the hottest of hot buttons. The President will probably appoint three or four Supreme Court justices. At the very least, a Bush-leaning court would probably reverse previous rulings that outlaw a federal ban on third-term abortion. Ultimately, Roe vs. Wade itself may be in danger.
Obviously this is a crisis for the abortion-rights movement. It is also a problem for the Democrats. Most Americans are already queasy about third-term abortions. As ultrasound imagery improves, abortion-righters may find themselves without significant support in their own party.
Dogmatic orthodoxy on abortion is also a philosophical problem for the left. In the great moral debates of our time, they have rested their case on science, not blind belief. Lately they have taken to calling themselves "reality-based," in somewhat sneering contrast to presumably simpleminded "faith-based" conservatives. The problem is, this time they are on the wrong side of science.
It is true that millions of opponents of abortion arrived at their position without the need for photographic evidence. They have always believed that human life begins at conception. But there are million of others, neither reactionary nor religious, who have now concluded - or are in the process of concluding - that at some point, before birth, fetuses become babies, deserving of protection.
Finding that point will be the crux of the coming debate. If the abortion-rights movement wants the support of the middle-aged, socially liberal guys in the diners of America, it had better find a more convincing tone than anger - and an argument that doesn't require us to deny, on doctrinal grounds, the evidence of our own eyes.
Any "point" in a continuum of change is arbitrary. They are used in law a matter of practicality. Unfortunately the RvW decision used a "viability" criterion which doesn't seem to take into consideration any criteria we use to decide if a thing has rights.
Since I brought it up, what criteria do determine rights? 10 fingers and 10 toes?
My favorite will always be of the baby grasping the doctor's finger, while inutero surgery was being performed.
Most pro-choices haven't seen a partial birth abortion. The babies are fully developed. The pictures can easily be seen on any partial birth abortion site. I plan to start carrying some around with me and pull them out to show people when the discussion starts to heat up. I think that will be an interesting debate.
When I first read you post, I thought you typed "valuable" (no glasses this morning). Then, I correctly saw the word "viable". That sums it up. Valuable and viable. I've always said that you can't have truly experienced a child's love and then support abortion. That's a contradiction formulated in the definition of love - undisputable to me.
You are very fortunate that you were qualified to adopt. I am a single parent (widowed), with a modest income, over age 40. I don't have a prayer of qualifying to adopt a child. They're sensible rules, generally speaking. Still...
Pro-life ping!
I doubt they derive pleasure from abortion. That's a huge stretch.
That is totally awesome. Is that enhanced in anyway?
Humans avoid pain and seek pleasure. The pro-abortion folks try to invert the standard every now and then but their argument has never stuck.
That's a much more plausible explanation than "They like killing babies".
You are so right!!
I don't understand why one would need a third trimester abortion. When I see these shows on Discovery Health or TLC, whenever someone has a problem that requires her to become unpregnant at 7 months, they just deliver the premie and put it in the incubator.
My favorite will always be of the baby grasping the doctor's finger, while inutero surgery was being performed
http://joseromia.tripod.com/samuel.html
Look, junkies derive pleasure from the narcotics they use ~ doesn't mean they like doing it, but they do derive pleasure from the act.
AMEN!!
They want the $$$$$ it's BIG BUSINESS!!
Your link didn't work. Does anyone know why, so many About. com links fail to bring up the data?
I think modern science is the pro abortion movement's biggest enemy. I really think that is the angle to use instead of religion. It's too easy for pro aborts to malign religion. But modern science is hard to get around. jmo
Not all of them may have aborted all their children though. They may have kept their babies once the child became more CONVENIENT to their lifestyle.
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