Abortion

Rebuttals"A sperm cell is not necessarily a future human being, but as I stated previously, neither is a fetus. A fetus is still in the developing stages to become a human being. The point was: if you consider it morally wrong to kill anything which has the potential to become a human being, then you must also consider it morally wrong to kill a sperm cell (as it, too, has the potential of becoming a human being)."A sperm cell cannot contribute to society, feel pain, or become a future human itself."That's the idea, yes. Just like wearing a condom prevents my sperm cells from becoming human beings. This is inherently wrong, why?"Again, a sperm cell does nothing but fertilize the egg, it is not a human in development. A fetus is a human in development. "No, if you kill a fetus, "technically" it is killing a fetus, not a human being. As you've already conceded, a fetus will eventually become a human being, not is one. And you have failed to explain why a fetus should be considered a human being, and therefore granted the same rights as human beings."If a women has a right to her own body, shouldn't a baby have the right to live. By aborting them they don't even get to decide. It's a bit hypocritical. And a cell is the smallest unit of life which is what a fetus starts out as. This is my opponent's argument:P1: A fetus is not a human.P2: Because it is not a human, it does not have the right to live.C: It is morally correct to kill a fetus.A fetus is a potential human being. Killing it before it becomes one is immoral. By aborting them, they don't even get to decide. What you are saying is because something is not completely developed yet, they should not have a right to life."This is just about the most ineffectual and off-the-wall straw man I have ever encountered in my entire (unpaid) debating career. How in the world did you come to this conclusion based on what I've said, Con? A cat is not a parasite and a house is not a womb; the two scenarios are consequentially far too incomparable."Neither is a fetus a parasite. A parasite is always a different species from the species it is living on."A fetus certainly does not contribute to society at all, either."A fetus contributes because it(most of the time) becomes a human being."Tumors are technically innocent as well since they don't break any laws. But they do cause harm, discomfort, and, potentially, death to their hosts."Again, a tumor cannot become a human."Abortion is not just a means of terminating the possibility of a future human being, but also a means of saving the life of a human being that already exists."The chance of a women to die in childbirth is very little. The chance of a new human being is very high."Secondly, as it is technically impossible to know for sure what a fetus can and cannot feel, and it is a heated controversy in the medical field, there is no conclusive evidence that a fetus can feel pain so early in its development despite whatever my opponent's highly biased sources claim. Instead, any stimuli the fetus shows in response to its environment is more than likely a reflex and not an actual avoidance of pain."Actually, look at this:"Pain can be detected when nociceptors (pain receptors) discharge electrical impulses to the spinal cord and brain. These fire impulses outward, telling the muscles and body to react. These can be measured. Mountcastle, Medical Physiology, St. Louis: C.V. Mosby, pp. 391-427 "Lip tactile response may be evoked by the end of the 7th week. At 11 weeks, the face and all parts of the upper and lower extremities are sensitive to touch. By 13 1/2 to 14 weeks, the entire body surface, except for the back and the top of the head, are sensitive to pain." S. Reinis & J. Goldman, The Development of the Brain C. Thomas Pub., 1980""Thirdly, if the avoidance of pain is the ultimate goal here, then we should unquestionably terminate the pregnancy as childbirth is one of the most painful experiences a human being can suffer in the realm of physical possibility (or so I hear). My opponent's own argument defeats itself."If that is the case, is abortion painful? Let's look at some testimonies; "I had an abortion 12 years ago, and I have suffered from it since the day it was done. There is no grief worse than losing a child, unless it is knowing that you have intentionally killed your own, out of sheer selfishness. I have had nightmares, flashbacks of the procedure including the physical pain I experienced, and periods of severe depression. I am still taking 3 medications for depression and anxiety. I wish I could go back in time and take it all back - but we can only move forward." ... "I feel that women should be informed about the affects of abortion. I had an abortion once and I live with the guilt and pain every day. When you are in such a vulnerable state, and you turn to these so-called counselors at these clinics, they make it seem unreal, like this is not a baby. And then you are herded into a room like cattle, called by numbers and before you can even really process what is happening, it is over. You are left with so much pain. I know what I did. I will live with it forever. I now have 3 children whom I look at and wander what the one I terminated would have been like. So everyone who feels that we, the ones who go through this, do not know pain, we do. More than you will ever know." ... "I am 22 years old, and I got pregnant at the age of 20. I was raised in a Christian home, went to a Christian college, and opposed abortion to every degree. When I became pregnant, abortion "seemed" like the only option, but as time went by, I put the abortion in the back of my mind because I dearly loved my little, innocent child… I talked to my child, named my child, and tried to make the person I was with bond with it also. I put the abortion off until the last possible week, my 19th week of pregnancy. By this time the abortion cost $1300 that I did not have. I didn't have the money for anesthesia and I had to stay awake for the 15 minute, very painful and eye-opening experience…There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about my baby and wish things could be changed somehow.... I want to reach out and tell women the horror I had to live through, to somehow mend what I've done if just a little bit." Abortion is very painful for the woman."However, your sources vote should still go to me as my non-existent sources are still far more reliable than Con's highly biased sources."My sources are not biased. www.abortionfacts.com is a highly trusted site. This page: http://www.abortionfacts.com... clearly explains that a fetus can feel pain. Same with this article: http://www.abort73.com...This one explains why a human is good for the economy. :http://www.nrlc.org... . My opponent loses conduct for falsely accusing my sources. My opponent also admits that he is too lazy to find sources.New sources:http://news.discovery.com...http://www.abort73.com...S. Reinis & J. Goldman, The Development of the Brain C. Thomas Pub., 1980"