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Countering Pro-Abortion Arguments 5

“The fetus becomes a child (only) at birth.”

  • This is untrue. The terms “fetus” and preborn (unborn) child are synonyms. Actually, the “fetus” becomes a “neonate” at birth. If we use scientific or medical terms, we must do so consistently. “Fetus “is a medical/scientific term for a preborn baby; “neonate” is the equivalent term for a newborn baby. Saying the fetus is not a child is as ridiculous as saying the neonate is not a child. Both are scientific terms for children, before and after birth, respectively.
    At birth, the preborn child becomes a newborn child. At birth, the fetus becomes a neonate. Both sentences say the same thing, one in common English, the other in scientific jargon.
  • There is only one “good” reason for claiming that the fetus is not a child: this lie enables pro-abortionists to advocate the killing of innocent children without having to admit it.
  • Despite the previous statement, when referring to a mother who is happily pregnant, does the pro-abortionist ask: “How’s your fetus?” or “How’s your product of conception doing?” or say “My, that potential life is starting to show?” Not likely! The pro-abortionist will probably use that four-letter word: “baby.”
    Looked at another way, the pro-abort calls the baby destined to be killed “a fetus,” yet may call the fetus destined to be born “a baby.” Inconsistent? Yes!It is unfair to label preborn people on the basis of whether or not someone else wants them (or wants to kill them!). Saying the fetus is not a child merely elevates this inequity to an outright lie.
  • Personhood:
    • Pope John Paul II: “In virtue of a personal dignity, the human being is always a value as an individual, and as such demands being considered and treated as a person and never, on the contrary, considered and treated as an object to be used or as a means or as a thing.”
    • “In effect, the acknowledgment of the personal dignity of every human being demands the respect, the defense and the promotion of the rights of the human person. It is a question of inherent, universal, and inviolable rights. No one, no individual, no group, no authority, no state, can change-let alone eliminate-them because such rights find their source in God himself.”
    • In the previous century, Negroes were not considered persons (i.e. citizens) in this country, at least in the legal sense. The infamous Dred Scott decision was born of a mentality which asserted that the status of personhood is not inherent for every human being. Black slavery was not merely legal; having a slave entailed certain “rights.” In this century, in Nazi Germany, Jews and others were designated as “nonpersons” (not citizens) by the government. Thus the extermination of six million Jews was perfectly “legal” (at least until the Nuremburg trials). Likewise, in the last 16 years 25 million preborn Americans have been killed in their mother’s wombs and this is perfectly “legal.” Regardless of legality, the denial of personhood to a human being is always unjust.
    • In America, since 1973, whereas Exxon or any other corporation has, in some ways, the legal status of “person,” a baby one day before birth does not.