1) Yes, human is human regardless of size/stage of development.
2) While the specific point of “ensoulment” is apparently undetermined, I tend to think it is at the time of conception. After all “it is the Spirit that gives life”, right?
3) I agree, that regardless of the time of “ensoulment”, the benefit of the doubt should be in favor of the child.
4) The time of “ensoulment” is irrelevant to “spontaneous abortions.” A common type of “spontaneous abortion” is miscarriage, which can happen at many points throughout a pregnancy. Regardless of the spiritual status of a child who dies via spontaneous abortion, such deaths, while tragic, are natural. Intentionally procured abortions are murder.
5)
“technically, the pregnant woman has rights over the fetus, because the fetus is in her uterus, and that uterus belongs to her. Her body belongs to her, not to the fetus.”
Technically, if
you put someone in a dependent position in which they rely on you for life, then
you are responsible for them.
In the case of the pregnant woman,
she is responsible for having placed the child (without the child’s consent), into a dependent position (inside of her own body), whether she did so intentionally or not. With the sole exception of pregnancy due to forcible rape, she has already given her consent, either directly or by implication, so is responsible for the life of the child until it can survive outside of her body.
“
But I didn’t mean for that to happen!” does not relieve one of responsibility for their actions.
In the case of rape, in which the child was created with no choice of either the mother of child, this argument might be able to hold at least a drop of water. But intentionally killing an innocent person is murder, whether because of the sins of the child’s parents or because the child was conceived during the victimization of their mother.
6)
“If the fetus or embyro is human, then what should be the punishment for killing a fetus or embryo?”
Is this a variation of the “are you really proposing putting women in jail for having abortions?” question? If so, the answer is no, & for several reasons. For one, the woman is a victim of abortion too. For another, women who have abortions admittedly do so for many reasons. Often, they have been led to believe they really have
no choice. (That’s ironic, isn’t it?) Without the ability to read minds, the inner state & decision making process of a woman would be nearly impossible to truly determine, so she could not be prosecuted even if anyone wanted her to be.
However, the doctor who performed the act certainly would be culpable for his/her actions, against both the child & their mother.
It’s hard to imagine an act more opposed to the “
First, do no harm” ethic than intentionally killing a child. As such, I would recommend
at least delicensing any doctor who performed one, & ban them from ever practicing medicine in the US again.
Given the common horrible effects on many women who have had abortions, I question whether prison time wouldn’t be a wise addition to this delicensing.
). I can’t comprehend of a way to find any data regarding zygote death before implantation. How can it be done? If it’s a normal biological process for the zygote to die and then be flushed from the body during that part of a menstrual cycle, how would anyone know these zygotes even existed? How could anyone set up any sort of research project? There is no sample.
