In the never-ending debates over what it means to be a “person” (as distinct from a human being) I’ve seen many people claim that you cannot be a person unless you are viable, i.e. a fetus is not a person until the fetus can live outside the mother’s body. The first counterargument I usually hear […]
The Associated Press reports on developments in the case of Kermit Gosnell, the infamous abortion doctor arrested in January of 2011 and charged with eight counts of murder. According to the AP: City prosecutors say the deaths [of a patient and seven babies] were no accident but the result of dangerous medical practices that went […]
Ultrasound: 23 weeks From Stanford Law School’s Supreme Court of California resources: On March 1, 1991, Maria Flores, who was between 23 and 25 weeks pregnant, and her 20-month-old son, Hector, went to a check-cashing store to cash her welfare check. As Flores left the store, defendant pulled a gun from the waistband of his […]
It’s no secret that our current laws are inconsistent when it comes to the legal status of fetuses. For example, Kansas law declares the terms “person” and “human being”–as used in laws that define murder, manslaughter, and so forth–to include an unborn child. California penal code draws a distinction between “human being” and “fetus”, but […]
The Washington Post reports on Delhi Charter School – a kindergarten through 12th grade school in Louisiana that has recently come under fire for its policy on pregnant students. The pregnancy policy states: If an administrator or teacher suspects a student is pregnant, a parent conference will be held. The school reserves the right to […]
Given the impracticality of claiming a zygote is not a human, abortion proponents will typically explain that, while the zygote may be a human being, it is not a person. What is a person? Depends on who you ask. Some of the most common pro-choice claims are that you are not a person unless you are viable, […]
I have been active in the pro-life movement for about six years now. My boyfriend is not quite as active as I am, but he does come with me to marches, and he is a good listener as I bounce ideas off of him for SPL blog posts or I talk about some recent piece […]
I have no perspective on the subject of fetal pain because I’ve never looked into it myself. I’ve never looked into it because fetal pain does not affect my position on abortion. Even if we were certain fetuses felt no pain during abortion, I would still find abortion unethical and would seek to see it […]
MSNBC covers the story of Addison Hope Kelly. When Addison was a fetus around 6 months gestation, ultrasound revealed she had a tumor between her heart and lungs, making it unlikely that Addison would survive. Addison’s parents chose fetal surgery, which would give Addison a 50/50 chance of survival. Although the process caused Mary Kelly, Addison’s […]
Disclaimer. Even if all pro-lifers used secular reasoning, there is plenty of room for disagreement in the multi-faceted abortion debate. Secular Pro-Life takes formal stances on a few issues, but where SPL members—especially SPL leadership—disagree, SPL declines to take an official position. (See, for example, the rape exception.) The alleged link between abortion and breast […]