I have to strongly disagree with what you are saying here.
I am a bit surprised, and saddened by that...
So the woman´s physical and mental health means nothing in God´s eyes?
Of course God cares! And so do I!
Just because something can´t be proven it can´t be ignored. How can you ever 100% say if someone is mentally ill? You can?t in 99% of the cases.
Which is one of the reasons I see way too much potential for women faking mental illness just to get rid of an unwanted child! Thank you for making my argument for me.
What if the mother commited suicide if she werenßt allowed to abort? Does that solve anything?
And what if the woman committed suicide BECAUSE she had an abortion? Are we to kill everyone that may, or may not, be a factor in someone else committing suicide? Why not just kill everybody before they get in their cars to drive to work in the morning, because they might, or might not, cause a fatal accident? RED HERRING.
Also if you just legally forbid abortions, guess what happens: They are done illegally, the numbers of abortions don´t usually go up when legalizing abortions but stay the same. So there is no reason to illegalize abortions again.
I would like to see reliable statistics to back up your first statement there. Regardless, your last argument holds no water. We make things illegal with the hope of deterring harmful behavior, true, but should we just legalize everything that laws are unable to deter? Should we legalize felons conceal and carrying guns just because the law doesn't deter their behavior? It also doesn't seem to deter pedophiles that their behavior is illegal...
I won´t even bother to say that a woman can do whatever she wants with her own body and life. The man´s life wouldn´t be affected at all most times but it´s a huge deal for the woman, so she should decide on her own, buit i know you won´t agree with such a equalistic statement.
Now we come to the real issue that drives this debate... are the unborn a human being with rights or are they just a part of a woman's body? This is THE foundational question. I tried to bring this up in post #20... here is part of what I wrote there (with some small additions):
At what point does a human zygote cell become a human being? 1) At conception? 2) When it is embedded in the wall of a woman's womb (5-6 days after conception)? 3) First heartbeat (about 5-6 weeks*)? 4) The development of a brain and nervous system, enabling a nescient consciousness with the ability to move and feel (about 8 weeks*)? 5) A later time in the womb (please indicate approximately which week of pregnancy)? At birth? Or sometime after birth? Please provide Biblical and scientific reasons for your answer.
I think the best balance between science and Scripture is found in saying "no later than option 4". In
Luke 1, Elizabeth is 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist when he leaps in her womb "for joy", a very human emotion, in response to Mary's greeting. So, biblically (could reference other Scriptures about life in the womb, but this one gives us a time stamp), a zygote becomes a human being sometime BEFORE the 6th month of pregnancy. Scientifically, Scripturally, and philosophically, the beginning of consciousness is very important; and morally, the ability of that consciousness to experience pain during an abortion procedure is also very important. I feel pretty confident in that position... what's yours?
* weeks from last menstruation
Looking forward to your reply;
Michael
