Abortion Before a Fetus Has a Functioning Brain is Not Wrong

1. Brain function is inadequate in determining one's personhood. What is at stake here is determining one's personhood, not showing how much brain activity is present. We know for a fact that without a functioning brain, there is no capability for personhood. Thus, the only consideration is whether or not the fetus has a functioning brain. Some parts of the brain do not develop until the 7th gestational month. This would include the Medulla and Pons, to say nothing of the Forebrain, where much of the actual higher processing takes place (http://brainmind.com...). How can one be a person without a developed medulla, pons, or forebrain? 2. Brain development is too gradual to make an effective diagnosis. Simply because there is a little grey area in the concept does not indicate that it would be a poor system. We have technology to measure brainwaves separate from simple electrical pulses. It would be trivially easy to detect which fetuses have actual brainwave patterns and which are just mimicking a pacemaker. Again, at some point in time there is a point where the fetus becomes a viable organism - where the brain is capable of supporting the entire organism. This is medically recognized as the point in time where the fetus can be removed from the mother and survive. 3. Life emerging does not correlate with life departing. My opponent asserts that we are killing the fetus on a hunch after admitting that bodies without functioning brains are not people. He somehow pretends that brain activity the merely keeps the organism alive is sufficient to support personhood. If the necessary equipment for keeping an organism alive supports personhood, then it would be immoral to unplug a life support machine. Until the brain can support a person, it is just a fancy pacemaker. Again, my opponent makes the disanalogy between a patient on life support and a fetus... Consider a timeline... Meaningfully Alive---------------Brain Dead---Life Support--------------Known To Be Never Normal Again------- X ------- Meaningfully Alive---------------Brain Dead---Life Support------ X -----Known To Be Normal Later----------------------------- Not Meaningfully Alive------------ X -----------Life Support-------------Birth In each of these timelines, X represents the place where the organism was killed. The first is moral, the second immoral, and the third carries no moral import, as the organism isn't alive. ******************************** >> "So, the fetus, if it is a sub-human, still has basic human rights." Sub-humans wouldn't have sub-human rights? Animals are sub-humans - do they have human rights? >> "Only if it is determined to be non-human can it's human rights be completely obliterated." Human would be a member of the homo sapien species and ALIVE. Homo Sapiens without functioning brains are not alive. For part of gestation, a fetus has no functioning brain. Ergo it is not ALIVE. Ergo it is not human. >> "My opponent's logic is based on the assumption that there is ZERO brain activity, but fails to recognize or even refute my claims that there is some activity, even if just a little." Incorrect - my argument is based on the fact that without sufficient brain development, a fetus cannot be alive in any sort of meaningful way because it does not have a functional brain. There can be activity to perform background tasks, but this does NOT indicate that the brain is capable of supporting a person. Furthermore, there are periods of time early in gestation where the brain cannot even to THAT. >> "Again, we are discussing the fetus, which has brain activity. Therefore, by my opponent's logic, the resolution is negated." Incorrect - brain ACTIVITY and brain FUNCTIONALITY are totally different. If you take the processor out of my computer and boot it up, there is activity, but no functionality. >> "Alive or is a person? My opponent just said that plants and ants are alive, just not considered human. The fetus is alive as it is a living organism. The issue here is personhood, not life-ness. My opponent's statement does nothing to refute this contention." Incorrect - A functioning brain is a prerequisite for meaningful life and personhood. Plants and ants do not have meaningful life. >> "But the fetus has brain functionality, so my opponent must define how much. If zero is the only criteria, then he loses the debate." I have said several times that this could be considered the threshold of viability. A nonfunctional brain will yield a non-viable organism. This would differ on a per-case basis, but still be determinable by medical science. >> "My opponent is under the delusion that the fetus has no brain activity until a specific moment in time, at which point it bursts into humanhood." Incorrect - I have addressed this several times. The process may be gradual, but if it is not STARTED, there is no need to consider degrees of activity at all. Furthermore, it is analogous to considering how many degrees past boiling you heat your coffee. If the coffee is not boiling yet, further consideration is pointless. >> "If an adult was undergoing a similar process in which we KNEW the outcome was survival, killing him/her would be immoral." ONLY because the adult was alive BEFORE the "similar process" - a fetus has never been alive without a functional brain. My opponent's point here rests on the delusion that an organism without a functional brain is alive in a meaningful way. >> "It has brain activity, which makes it a human-in-progress. Ergo, aborting the fetus is wrong." Yet again - activity and functionality are completely different. A computer with no processor is active, but not functional. ********************************** Yet again, I put forth the question: How can disassembling something that has never been alive and is not a person be wrong? A functioning brain is a REQUIREMENT for: 1) Life with moral import 2) Personhood 3) Viability of the organism A functioning brain would be one that supports the organism - i.e. makes it viable. Without a functioning brain, a fetus cannot be alive with any sort of moral import, a person, OR a viable organism. Ergo, killing a fetus without a functioning brain cannot be wrong. AFFIRMED.