If we thought of a fetus as a baby....Re: abortion

billbartlett at dodo.com.au billbartlett at dodo.com.au
Sat Oct 12 10:10:25 PDT 2002


Dennis Perrin wrote:


>Well, it is killing a developing human, which, without an abortion, would
>become (minus complications of course) a human baby.

Even if, for the sake of argument, we grant that an abortion is killing another human, the morally absolute presumption that killing another human is always wrong in all circumstances, is impossible for me to accept.

All life, including human life, is dependant on extinguishing the life of other organisms in order to survive. Minus complications, every human egg is alive and has the potential to become a human person. Contraception may be the murder of an egg, but it is justified by the circumstances.

Sometimes killing another human, whether it is an egg, or a foetus, or even a healthy adult person, is justified morally. We can say that it is repugnant to do so, we can struggle to avoid the circumstances where we are put in that situation, but we can't judge those who are forced to make such decisions by absolutist moral principles.

Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list