Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site looking.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!looking!brad From: brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) Newsgroups: net.abortion Subject: Society has already decided what a legal human being is Message-ID: <215@looking.UUCP> Date: Fri, 30-Nov-84 00:00:00 EST Article-I.D.: looking.215 Posted: Fri Nov 30 00:00:00 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 1-Dec-84 19:40:30 EST Organization: Looking Glass Software, Waterloo, Ont Lines: 40 Let's talk about the real topic - what a legal human being, worthy of rights and freedoms, is. Point 1: All this talk about the humanity of the fetus is meaningless. Of course the fetus is an example of genus homo species sapiens. That's not what we're discussing. We are discussing legal status. Point 2: Membership in the species is not equal to full legal status. As a simple example, dead people. A more interesting example, children. While clearly members of the species, children are denied what we in society consider our fundamental rights. The younger they are, the fewer rights they have. For example you don't get franchise until 18. The right to engage in sex until 16. To drink at 21 in some states. Young children don't even have the right to property or self-detirmination. Point 3: Society has officially stated that legal status is lost with the loss of brain activity - "brain death", as it is called. Thus mental capacity is the official quality that gives legal status to a human. Now it's clear that a fetus has less mental capacity than, say, an adult pig. (You may try and dispute this, but the point is that there is no REAL SOLID EVIDENCE for your disagreement, and so you can't try and put it into law) Point 4: All that's left that a fetus has is the potential for mental capacity. That's all the ground anti-abortionists have to stand on. They have to prove that the potential for mental capacity is sacred and must be protected at all costs in law. Point 5: Recent developments in medical technique allow for an arbitrary sperm and ova to be combined in the lab and then inserted in a womb. Degree of success is within an order of magnitude of that for the ore enjoyable methods. This elevates indivudal sperm/egg cells to within close range of fertilized zygotes. They have almost the same potential, and as medicine advances, they will have the same potential. When each sperm and egg has the same potential as the fetus, one must either abandon all arguments based on potential, or go insane trying to enforce the obvious crazy laws that ensue. Point 6: Abortion must be made legal. -- Brad Templeton, Looking Glass Software Ltd. - Waterloo, Ontario 519/884-7473