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Old 11-27-2008, 07:05 PM   #151
driveway
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12 View Post
but that the way some people treat abortion is the same way that slaves were treated in the South. As in, he's not a man, he's my negro slave or it's not an individual human being but a lump of tissue that can be removed.
The major differences are as follows:

1. A slave is capable of survival outside of a womb; an embryo or fetus is not - until around 24 weeks, and only then with intense medical care.

2. The possession of a slave does not fundamentally alter the physical body of the possessor, nor is it a potential risk to the life of the possessor.

3. The possession of a slave does not, generally, require the complete re-arrangement of a persons life in order to properly care for said slave.

4. A slave is not necessarily a life-long commitment. Slaves, by their nature, can be bought and sold or exchanged as goods.

While I understand that the argument you are making is a moral one - that fetuses are regarded as not-human, much like slaves, you need to acknowledge is that there are identifiable, physiological differences between a fetus and a full-grown human.

Whether you view human potential as the same thing as actuality is a personal choice, but it is necessary to at least recognize that those people who do not have some sound arguments to back-up their position.
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