From: mcochran@nyx.cs.du.edu (Mark A. Cochran)
Subject: Re: Nyikos and the one bad apple theory of forced pregnancy.
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Organization: None worth mentioning.
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 93 05:30:08 GMT

In article <1992Dec31.000140.4189@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu> sfm@manduca.neurobio.arizona.edu (Stephen Matheson) writes:
>From article <C03G0J.H94@ra.nrl.navy.mil>, by psl@nrl.navy.mil (Paul Lebow):
>> In article <1992Dec28.065056.50307@watson.ibm.com> margoli@watson.ibm.com 
>> (Larry Margolis) writes:
>>> In <nyikos.725150678@milo.math.scarolina.edu> nyikos@math.scarolina.edu 
>> (Peter Nyikos) writes:
>
>>> >Meanwhile, 1,600,000 unborn children, most of them already in the
>>> >fetus stage, are aborted each year in the USA alone.
>
>>> This would be interesting to see you document this, since the dictionary 
>>> says:
>>> fetus (n)
>>> DEFINITIONS:
>>>     an unborn or unhatched vertebrate esp.
>>>     after attaining the basic structural plan
>>>     of its kind; specif : a developing human
>>>     from usu. three months after conception
>>>     to birth
>>> (c) G. & C. Merriam
>
>Gosh, I hate to complicate matters, but I must take issue with this
>definition.  According to my human embryology text, the fetal period begins
>in the 9th week of gestation when, as the dictionary correctly reports, the
>criterion for fetushood has been met: attainment of the basic structural
>plan of a human.  I think you'll find that this is embryology's definition
>of fetus, and that the dictionary writers were influenced by the popular
>trimester system which is numerically convenient but is not based on
>developmental events.
>
Mine also define fetus as 9weeks+. Fortunately, they also do a fine
job of differentiating between a fetus and a child, contrary to what
Paul "Monkey Boy" Lebow attempts to insinuate later in this article.

>>> and the statistics I have show that more than 90% of all abortions in 
>>> the USA are performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
>
>It would be interesting to see how many abortions are performed before and
>after 9 weeks.
>
>>> I know you like neither dictionaries nor statistics; I'm taking bets on 
>>> which you'll attack first.  (The odds-on favorite is that you'll run away 
>>> again.)
>
>This appears to be a rare case in which an attack on the dictionary is
>warranted.  I wonder how many other dictionaries contain this error.
>
>> Larry.....Oh Laaaaarrryyy.  This is the ghost of old Dan Webster hauting 
>> you.  Have you looked up the definition of "child" lately, Larry?  You and 
>> Peter can run down that path, together.
>
>Aw, gee, Paul, can't you just tell us now?
>
You expect Monkey boy to deal in facts? Sorry Stephen, it just ain't
going to happen.

--
                  Mark Cochran          merlin@eddie.ee.vt.edu
These are the views of my employer. They also represent the views of
your employer, your government, the Church of your choice, and the
Ghost of Elvis. So there.
Newsgroups: talk.abortion,talk.politics.misc,alt.society.civil-liberty