Abortion

I accept. As Con, I will argue against abortion. I will do this by answering the very important question "What is the unborn?". But before I answer this question, I would first like to give the definition of abortion since Pro didn't. Abortion is basically the killing of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy. It must also be noted that although I'm against abortion, there is one situation in which I believe that abortion is justifiable; and that's when the life of the mother is directly threatened. Now, let's move on and answer the crucial question "What is the unborn?". What Is The Unborn?Indeed, before we can decide if it is right or acceptable to kill something, we must first know what that 'something' is. Likewise, before we can decide if it is right or acceptable to kill the unborn, we must first ask "What is the unborn?". As Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason rightly writes, 'If the unborn is not human, then no justification for abortion is necessary. But if the unborn is human, then no justification for abortion is adequate.' [1] So, what is the unborn? The unborn is a human being just like me and you, but only not a fully grown human being yet. Rather, it is in a earlier and different stage of development, just like a child is in a earlier and different stage of development compared to, say, an adult. The belief that the unborn is a human being is supported by both science and philosophy. 1. ScienceScientifically speaking, we know that from the earliest stages of development, the unborn is a distinct and living human being. Leading embryology books confirm this. Consider the following 7 quotations from medical experts in the field of embryology (All these 7 quotations are originally from this site [2]):1: Keith L. Moore & T.V.N. Persaud write, 'A zygote is the beginning of a new human being. Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm ... unites with a female gamete or oocyte ... to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.'2: 'Its 1859 Report on Criminal Abortion, the American Medical Association (AMA) understood that "the independent and actual existence of the child before birth as a living being" was a scientific truth.'3: 'It is the penetration of the ovum by a spermatozoan and resultant mingling of the nuclear material that each brings to the union that constitutes the culmination of the process of fertilization and marks the initiation of the life of a new individual. (Bradley M. Patten, Human Embryology, 3rd ed., New York: McGraw Hill, 1968, page 43.)'4: 'Every time a sperm cell and ovum unite a new being is created which is alive and will continue to live unless its death is brought about by some specific condition. (E. L. Potter and J. M. Craig, Pathology of the Fetus and the Infant, 3rd ed., Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1975, page vii.)'5: "Dr. Watson A. Bowes of the University of Colorado Medical School speaks clearly, when he says, "The beginning of a single human life is from a biological point of view a simple and straightforward matter - the beginning is conception." (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary Committee S-158, Report, 97th Congress, 1st Session, 1981.)"6: A 1981 U.S. Senate report states, "Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being - a being that is alive and is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this point in countless medical, biological, and scientific writings." (Subcommittee on Separation of Powers.) 7: 'Former Planned Parenthood President Dr. Alan Guttmacher was shocked that anyone would question these basic scientific facts. "This all seems so simple and evident that it is difficult to picture a time when it wasn't part of the common knowledge," he wrote in his book Life in the Making. (A. Guttmacher, Life in the Making: The Story of Human Procreation, New York: Viking Press, 1933, p. 3.)'In short, a human life begins at conception. The fetus is obviously biologically human, genetically human, and a distinct member of the species homo sapiens. Patrick Lee, in his book 'Abortion and Unborn Human Life', nicely and correctly describes the humanity of the unborn:'The humanity of the fetus is shown by the fact that its sources are two humans, it has the genetic structure that is typical of members of the human species, and its development, barring accidents, ends in a recognizable human individual. It comes from the union of human sperm and a human ovum. All of its cells are identifiably human, having the typical chromosomal structure. Moreover, the direction of its integrated growth indicates that it is human. It is actively developing itself to the next stage along the maturation process of human organism.' [3]All this is really not difficult to understand: The unborn are alive because they grow, and they are humans because they have human parents. It is surely absurd to say that the unborn isn't a human being. If it isn't a human being, then what is it? A lion? Or maybe a cat? 2. PhilosophyPhilosophically speaking, you are essentially the same being now as the fetus you were in the womb. We are basically the same being or entity from conception on, otherwise we could not speak of the growth and development of that being. I was once a adult, a teenager, a child, a baby, and a fetus. My beginning can be traced back to conception. I did not come from a zygote, fetus, or embryo - rather, I once was a zygote, fetus and embryo. Furthermore, there are no crucial or morally significant difference between the fetus you once were and the adult you are today. Differences like size, level of development, environment, and degree of dependency are all irrelevant. For example, it is true that the unborn are less developed than you and I. However, this is irrelevant. Two year-old girls are less developed than 18 year-old ones. But of course, that doesn't therefore mean that older children have more rights than their younger siblings. It's far more reasonable to argue that although humans differ immensely with respect to some things, like development, they are nonetheless equal and valuable because they share a common human nature.ConclusionGiven the above, we can rightly conclude that the unborn is a human being. This fact is supported and proved by both science and philosophy. Abortion is therefore wrong, immoral, and should not be legal since it kills an innocent human being just like me and you.Sources[1] http://www.str.org...[2] http://www.caseforlife.com...[3] Patrick Lee, 'Abortion and Unborn Human Life, Second Edition', page 5.