Resolved: Abortion should be Illegal (Except in life threatening cases)

Thank you, Con. Rebuttal " Rather, we consider there to be key differences between an organism and a person (whether there are or not is debatable). For example, we regularly wash off, and thus kill, thousands upon thousands of bacteria a day [3]. The fact that bacteria are alive doesn"t play any moral or legal role in our daily lives. " "I will concede that the fetus is a member of the species Homo sapiens, however, there doesn"t seem to be any relevant connection between this biological fact and the legal status of abortion. At best, biology allows us to say a fetus is a person in development. Surely membership in the species Homo sapiens isn"t necessary and sufficient for personhood; this is blatant speciesism. It displays an unjustified bias, and on that basis alone, can be rejected." First off, I would like to acknowledge Con's concession that the fetus is a human. Homo sapiens is defined as a human. http://www.thefreedictionary.com... http://www.merriam-webster.com... Since the fetus is indeed a human, as we both agreed, we then know it is alive. A comatose person may not respond to the environment or a sterile person may not produce offspring, but obviously they are alive. We can't use Con's seven points blindly. About Con's point about bacteria, it is true we wash our hands (or at least I do). However, bacteria lives aren't the same as human lives, there is no comparison. Killing bacteria should be legal;killing humans should not. Donna J. Harrison, M.D., president, American Association of Pro Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.thesurvivaldoctor.com... "Since the mechanism by which mammals reproduce has been known for at least the last 150 years, any biologist in the world can tell you that a mammal"s life begins when the sperm from the father unites with the egg from the mother. This process is called fertilization, and when the DNA from the father and mother have combined, the egg is called a fertilized egg, or zygote. When the zygote splits into two cells, it is called a two-celled embryo. When it splits into four cells, it is called a four-celled embryo, etc. The definition of "embryo" is "the youngest form of a being." If this being is nourished and protected, it will proceed uninterrupted through the developmental stages of embryo, fetus, newborn, toddler, child, teen, adult and aged adult: one continuous existence. This being never develops into a pig, a frog or a tree, but only into a human. This being is therefore, by definition, a living human being." Biologists agree that a human life starts from fertilization. 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 from the mother form a unique DNA person. Not being as developed does not reduce someone's status of person hood. A 50 year old man is not any more a person than a 7 year old girl, even though one is more developed. ""Euthanasia", by definition, is assisted suicide, which means the individual in question desires to die, which means that they do not, at present, value their own future. In other words, it would not be wrong, under this criterion, to kill someone that wishes to die, because they do not value their future. However, a fetus necessarily cannot value its future. It seems, then, that what a "future-like-ours" would be is a future of things which we presently value. But a fetus can"t presently value anything, as it doesn"t have the capacity to value anything, any more than an apple or ant does." Just because the fetus temporarily may or may not have desires (remember that it has brain waves), does not make it okay to kill it. The desire view of life is wrong, in that a person in a coma may not have desires at the time because they cannot think; however killing them is still wrong. "It doesn't seem to be necessarily the case that those things which are morally impermissible are illegal. Under some ethical systems (utilitarianism), killing animals for any reason other than self-defense is morally impermissible. Additionally, there are things with no moral content which are illegal (driving on the left side of the road in the United States)." Driving on the left side of the road? OK, this is getting ridiculous. If on balance, nobody followed traffic rules, there would be more traffic accidents and blockage. My contentions stand as I prove why Con refutations fall. Constitutive being argument: P1) If an individual being has a constitutive property at one point in time, then it has that property at every in its existence. P2) You are the same individual living being or organism as the fetus from which you developed. P3) You are a human person constitutively. https://books.google.com... Thank you, and I urge a Pro ballot.