Abortion

Just because something is legal does not necessitate its truthfulness to reality in certain circumstances. Granted, more often than not, the law in America is sound and just. But just as it was once a legal right in America to own a slave as property, so too can laws of current day be mistaken. This being said, biological definition of life is stated as "(1) A distinctive characteristic of a living organism from dead organism or non-living thing, as specifically distinguished by the capacity to grow, metabolize, respond (to stimuli), adapt, reproduce" . Before life of a fetus can be argued, it must be explicitly stated that a fetus is a unique human being. In order for a being to be considered human, that being must have unique human DNA. We know that a fetus is formed from the meeting of a sperm and an egg cell. The sperm cell is not in itself genetically unique from the father. The egg cell is not in itself genetically unique from the mother. However, the merging of these two cells forms a being with unique human DNA separate from the mother or father. This scientifically and irrefutably proves the fetus is a unique human being. Now, a fetus shows scientific signs of life starting with the most simplistic from which other signs can stem (i.e. reproduction, respiration etc.). This foundation is the ability to grow. No being is created in its full potential at the moment of its conception. Everything has a beginning from which, due to growth towards more complex potential, life exists. By the mere fact the fetus is growing from biological simplicity into biological complexity we can soundly say the being must be alive. Biological growth, which a fetus possesses, is the foundation by which life is marked, for without growth, none of the other factors pointing towards life could exist. Putting this together, we can say the fetus is a unique human being due to its unique human DNA. We can say as well that the fetus is biologically growing, and growth is the foundation from which all life proceeds, therefore the fetus is alive for the fetus grows towards full potential. Then, the fetus must be a living, unique human being who continues to grow towards more and more complex potential. Next, you state that "The age of viability (~24 weeks into pregnancy) is the amount of time it takes for the fetus to reach a developmental stage to survive on its own if it was delivered from the mother's womb". Id like to focus on the word "SURVIVE". According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to SURVIVE means to "remain alive : to continue to live." Therefore, you are saying that the fetus was indeed alive in the womb before the age of viability thus destroying the argument that life begins at the "age of viability". Something cannot "survive on its own" unless it was alive before it was on its own....that thing alive before it was on its own would be a fetus. Furthermore, the law would then be stating that the determinant of life would be location of where someone lives. Since age of viability does not determine life, then we have to look at the other factor of the law: being inside or outside of the womb. WHERE someone lives does not determine WHETHER someone lives, therefore it does not matter whether the child is living inside the mother or whether the child is one-hour old and laying in a crib living "on its own." In either case, both are dependent on other people whether they be mothers, fathers, doctors etc and both still have the right to life. Also, your definition of an abortion states that an abortion results in the "DEATH of the fetus." How can you kill something that is not alive to begin with? By your definition, you would then have to admit the fetus was alive before the abortion because death is the extermination/killing of someone or something that was alive prior.