Within the two debates personally, I adhere to the scientific theory that life begins after birth and as one is able to develop consciousness. While I do believe that one day a fetus develops into a person it should not hold rights or be protected under law. I believe this because, this open a debate on birth control, menstruation, masturbation, and miscarriages. If life is protected under law, and life is held in DNA, then a woman taking birth control would be committing mass murder, a man who masturbates also is guilty of this crime. Women who have miscarriages under any circumstances should be punished, because a murder, whether accidental or not, is punishable under law.
The concept that life begins at conception is very rationalist, believing that from conception life must develop, despite the fact that many pregnancies end in miscarriage, or even stillbirths. Should one then decide that the deceased child has birthright? Although very scientific, I cannot believe that there is one truth and one answer to the beginning of life. After all an egg is not considered a chicken, and a seed is not considered a plant, so then why do fetuses have the status of a human?
The concept that personhood begins after birth adheres to a humanist ideal, identifying that as humans we will never know when life actually begins, because entering personhood varies within each individual. I believe this concept acknowledges all the factors of life, environment, nature, socioeconomic status, experience etc. To live must mean one is alive, and while in the mother's womb, life is dependent on the mother. If the mother dies, shortly after the fetus will, there is no life outside of the womb until birth. This is why I believe life occurs postnatal, when the infant breathes in the world’s air, hears the foreign sounds of the world, smells unfamiliar scents and begins the journey of life.
Within the two arguments, you can see how the rhetoric is used to sway the audience to adhere the specific position. For example within the argument of life beginning at conception, the term person, life, and unborn child is used. When you refer to the beginning of life as an actual person this appeals to the morals of many, which is why the Pro-Life argument is very strong. When you refer to someone as a person, you imply that they already have a soul and to killing a living being is murder. These arguments are filled with pathos, and you can see in the statement, “I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”. This quote from Mother Theresa is directly makes the audience feel as if abortion is murderous, and will lead to more murders, making the pregnant woman considering abortion feel as though she is a bad person for even thinking these thoughts. In a sense, these quotes mentally convict these women as coldblooded murderers.
Those who believe that life begins after birth often use technical terms such as zygote, embryo, fetus, to refer to the "entity" within the room, even compares the fertilized egg as a single-celled organism, which are often knows as bacteria or viruses. This group uses rhetoric to take the "soul" out of the unborn child, so it makes it easier to view the fetus as an entity instead of a person. This idea makes the option of abortion easier to accept because you are no longer equating life to a fetus. The quote,"We really need to get over this love affair with the fetus and start worrying about children," shows that those who believe life begins after birth do not want to so much attention going towards the unborn and instead, focus on the living, which would also include the mother.
The greatest point that everyone must acknowledge is that everyone is different. Through personhood we have developed different philosophies of life, different values, and different ways of viewing the world. While I believe that life begins after birth, I am able to understand the ideal that life begins at conception, and I believe in the right to choose. I leave this to you to decide what you believe.
The concept that life begins at conception is very rationalist, believing that from conception life must develop, despite the fact that many pregnancies end in miscarriage, or even stillbirths. Should one then decide that the deceased child has birthright? Although very scientific, I cannot believe that there is one truth and one answer to the beginning of life. After all an egg is not considered a chicken, and a seed is not considered a plant, so then why do fetuses have the status of a human?
The concept that personhood begins after birth adheres to a humanist ideal, identifying that as humans we will never know when life actually begins, because entering personhood varies within each individual. I believe this concept acknowledges all the factors of life, environment, nature, socioeconomic status, experience etc. To live must mean one is alive, and while in the mother's womb, life is dependent on the mother. If the mother dies, shortly after the fetus will, there is no life outside of the womb until birth. This is why I believe life occurs postnatal, when the infant breathes in the world’s air, hears the foreign sounds of the world, smells unfamiliar scents and begins the journey of life.
Within the two arguments, you can see how the rhetoric is used to sway the audience to adhere the specific position. For example within the argument of life beginning at conception, the term person, life, and unborn child is used. When you refer to the beginning of life as an actual person this appeals to the morals of many, which is why the Pro-Life argument is very strong. When you refer to someone as a person, you imply that they already have a soul and to killing a living being is murder. These arguments are filled with pathos, and you can see in the statement, “I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”. This quote from Mother Theresa is directly makes the audience feel as if abortion is murderous, and will lead to more murders, making the pregnant woman considering abortion feel as though she is a bad person for even thinking these thoughts. In a sense, these quotes mentally convict these women as coldblooded murderers.
Those who believe that life begins after birth often use technical terms such as zygote, embryo, fetus, to refer to the "entity" within the room, even compares the fertilized egg as a single-celled organism, which are often knows as bacteria or viruses. This group uses rhetoric to take the "soul" out of the unborn child, so it makes it easier to view the fetus as an entity instead of a person. This idea makes the option of abortion easier to accept because you are no longer equating life to a fetus. The quote,"We really need to get over this love affair with the fetus and start worrying about children," shows that those who believe life begins after birth do not want to so much attention going towards the unborn and instead, focus on the living, which would also include the mother.
The greatest point that everyone must acknowledge is that everyone is different. Through personhood we have developed different philosophies of life, different values, and different ways of viewing the world. While I believe that life begins after birth, I am able to understand the ideal that life begins at conception, and I believe in the right to choose. I leave this to you to decide what you believe.