Have you seen this movie? If not, won't you please view it and let me know what you think of it. Thank You
"180" - An award-winning documentary!
I can't speak for the people in the video, but to me those arguments are not convincing.
The experience of a fetus (not a "baby" or a "child", a fetus) is qualitatively different from that of an adult, a child, or even that of a neonate. Depending on the stage of development, they cannot breathe on their own. They cannot see, cannot hear, cannot even think. Qualitatively in terms of function and existence, it isn't really any more a human being than a teratoma.
In addition, the question "when does it become a human being" is misguided, because it implies the answer is a dichotomy - one day it isn't, the next day it is. Just like how the definitions of adulthood, or adolescence, or maturity are continuously defined and depend on context and the measures employed, so too is the definition of humanity.
Furthermore, the developing organism is completely dependent on the mother to survive. This is really a unique situation in a 'normal' human lifetime, where even the function of carrying oxygen to the body's tissues is dependent on another apparatus. However, a fetus shares several parallels with people in persistent vegetative states. The major difference is that the natural history of the fetus tends toward greater function, whereas the natural history of a person in a persistent vegetative state is generally neutral. Even so, the fact that a decision can be made to end the life of an adult in this state means that such a decision can also be made for a fetus. Assuming the concern is on the individual's experience rather than their future potential, I do not see any qualitative difference between the experience of "coma guy" (so to speak) and the fetus. The assumption is that the individual in a vegetative state will not consciously perceive the act of killing them, and I see no reason why this assumption should not be extended to the fetus. Both have reflexes to stimuli, but in neither case is that taken for a sign of consciousness or self-awareness.
