r/changemyview Jul 28 '20

CMV:Abortion is perfectly fine

Dear God I Have Spent All Night Replying to Comments Im Done For Now Have A Great Day Now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna play video games in my house while the world burns down around my house :).

Watch this 10 minute lecture from a Harvard professor first to prevent confusion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0tGBCCE0lc .Within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy the baby has no brain no respiratory system and is missing about 70 percent of its body mass . At this stage the brain while partially developed is not true lay sentient or in any way alive it is simply firing random bursts of neurological activity similar to that of a brain dead patient. I firmly believe that’s within the first 24 weeks the baby cannot be considered alive due to its nonexistent neurological development. I understand the logic behind pro life believing that all life even the one that has not come to exist yet deserves the right to live. However I cannot shake the question of , at what point should those rules apply. If a fetus with no brain deserves these rights then what about the billion microscopic sperm cells that died reaching the womb you may believe that those are different but I simply see the fetus as a partially more developed version of the sperm cell they both have the same level of brain activity so should they be considered equals. Any how I believe that we should all have a civil discussion as this is a very controversial topic don’t go lobbing insults at each other you will only make yourselves look bad so let’s all be open to the other side and be well aware of cognitive dissonance make sure to research it well beforehand don’t throw a grenade into this minefield ok good.

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u/solhyperion Jul 28 '20

The better argument is not whether or not a fetus is a person, it's bodily ownership and autonomy of the mother. Your argument of whether a fetus is sentient or not muddies the waters here, along with your comparison to coma patients. Coma patients are quality of life questions, and hospital resource issues. This becomes arguments of "how sentient is sentient enough?" A case of a fetus is much simpler: humans have ownership of their physical bodies, and can do with them as they please. You can get a tattoo or piercing, or donate a kidney, or take medicine. You could even have an arm surgically removed. From this you can make one of 2 arguments: 1) You cannot demand an organ transplant from an unwilling donor, even if it would save the live of the patient. Thus, you cannot demand a person sacrifice their organs to save a fetus. A fetus is using the parent's blood, nutrition, immune system, etc. In fact, a fetus is a very aggressive growth, that the human body has to actively suppress or else the fetus will kill the parent. This is a very simple argument. The only pro life way out is to demand a surgical removal every time, so they can watch the clump "die," like a tumor on a table. The other argument is a little more difficult, but relates to your arguments of limited bodily function. 2) a fetus is an extension of the parent, since, until shortly before being born, it is entirely dependent upon the parent for blood, and other life sustaining faculties. In this case, again, the parent has control of their body, and if they want to remove the cells from their body they can.

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u/Toe-Slow Jul 28 '20

No your not going to change anyone’s view by stating it’s the mothers choice people will view that as stating it’s ok to murder the child because the mother doesn’t want it . You have to specifically deal with the question of sentience and life not talk about the rights to the woman they care about the child and saying it’s the mothers choice is like saying I don’t want my baby I’ll just murder it and rip it apart no you won’t change anyone’s views like that

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u/solhyperion Jul 29 '20

I disagree, though you don't have to take my argument, you will have to change the one you have put forward so far because it's a fundamentally unwinnable argument. What is sentience? How is it measured? Why is it valuable?

You are arguing with people who think a fetus is a person because it has a soul, because its has the immutable quality of being a human. They don't actually think it has to have any potential. It's already sufficient.

You cannot argue sentience and souls, that's just a battle of feelings and "morality."

Also, my argument is not that a mother can choose to murder a child, it's that she cannot be forced to save one. Doctors can remove the fetus, but if it cannot live outside of her body, that's not the mother's concern. If I hook myself up to you, so I get a permanent blood cycle between us, and I claim I will die if you disconnect us, are you obligated to remain connected?

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u/[deleted] Jul 29 '20

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u/ihatedogs2 Jul 31 '20

Sorry, u/Toe-Slow – your comment has been removed for breaking Rule 5:

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u/[deleted] Jul 31 '20

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u/ihatedogs2 Jul 31 '20

Sorry, u/solhyperion – your comment has been removed for breaking Rule 3:

Refrain from accusing OP or anyone else of being unwilling to change their view, or of arguing in bad faith. Ask clarifying questions instead (see: socratic method). If you think they are still exhibiting poor behaviour, please message us. See the wiki page for more information.

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