First of all, embryos and fetus’s do have the capacity to suffer. I would recommend watching a video called “Silent Scream.” The URL is provided below. It shows an abortion through an ultrasound machine. As the baby is stabbed, you can see its mouth open up in a painful scream. Also, you incorrectly equalized slave labor to abortion. Abortion is far more heinous than any slavery yet devised. Over 40 million babies have been murdered so far in the U.S. And yes, it is murder, and that has been clearly defined by the pope, the Catechism (CCC #2271 & 2322), and the Didache. The nice thing about posting on a Catholic forum is that it is mainly read by Catholics, who all accept the teachings of the church. (Although so many don’t know what they actually are. But hey, I doubt many people actually want to be heretics.)
Silent Scream
silentscream.org/
Actually, this is controversial. Disclaimer: I mention this because I personally like to hear both sides of every issue so that I can make an educated decision and it in that spirit that I am posting this information. I am not personally contradicting, attacking or intending to offend anyone with the posting of this information. See below:
violence.de/prescott/humanist/abortion.html
*Dr. Michael Bennett, chairman of the neuroscience department of Albert Einstein Medical School, when asked whether a brain exists at conception and whether there can be a person without a brain, answered with an unequivocal “no!” to both questions. It was pointed out that the human brain has approximately 100 billion brain cells and that there are an estimated 100 trillion connections between neurons in the brain. This extraordinary neuronal “interconnectivity” provides the neurostructural foundation for complex perceptions and “personhood” and takes many months and often years to fully develop and function.
Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic, professor of neuroscience at Yale University Medical School, emphasizes that brain neurons do not exist prior to four weeks in utero, that the peak period for brain neuron development is from two to five months in utero, and that the existence of neurons, per se, does not indicate the existence of a developed, functioning brain. Once the brain cell is born, there is a long process of migration of brain cells that occurs mainly from two to six months in utero during which the brain cells move (migrate) to their final destination in the brain. An even longer process of development makes possible the “interconnectivity” of brain cells which is absolutely essential for sensation, perception, conscious experience, thought, and behavior. The formation of brain synapses that make possible brain cell communication does not begin until about the third month in utero, and most are formed after birth.
Dr. Clifford Grobstein, former chairman of the Department of Biology at Stanford University and now at the University of California at San Diego, highlights the complexity of brain development by noting that the brain docs not develop uniformly. For example, certain parts of the brain develop earlier and some later. The cerebral neocortex that is responsible for complex perceptions is one of the last to develop.
Dr. Dominick Purpura, dean of Albert Einstein Medical School, has been studying human brain development since 1974 with his research on mental retardation. Dr. Purpura emphasizes that there are a minimum number of neurons and synaptic connections that are necessary before the qualities of “humanness” and “personhood” can be developed and that this capacity begins to occur in the middle of the last trimester. Thus, about twenty-eight to thirty weeks in utero is the minimal time for the beginning of this capacity—“It can’t begin earlier,” according to Dr. Purpura*.
The article goes on to say that it impossible to feel pain without a developed brain and nervous system. You should know that this article was written as a response to “Silent Scream” so it is indeed the point of view from the other side/pro-choice position.
