Abortion. The very utterance of this word makes people perk up and take notice. Blood pressures rise, fights ensue and friends are lost over this emotionally charged issue. The struggle consists of two polarized camps of thought both of whom are scared as hell of giving any ground to the “enemy” for fear that their position would be severely eroded as a result. Compromise is nearly unheard of and often times viewed as an impossibility.The controversy surrounding abortion has been addressed in our popular culture ad nauseum. Unfortunately, most of the dialogue has consisted of substance-less rhetorical ploys to win over the audience’s emotions. Abortion is an important issue worth discussing and as such, it deserves a more dignified examination of its core issues.Most discussions involving abortion inevitably boil down to one central dispute. When is life created and when does this new “life” become as precious as any other human life (such as the mother’s)? The first logical step to rationally debating the issue is to establish the guidelines of what constitutes a human being. There are usually two broad categories of examination that people like to employ; spiritual, and biological.When individuals talk about spirituality in the context of abortion they are usually referring to the concept of the human soul. Many people believe that a true “human” is created when a new soul merges with the flesh. These people often disagree with each other over when the new soul first becomes present.Discussing specifics of soul mergers is about as productive as bickering over the precise number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. The presence of a “soul” is unobservable and it is absurd to use fanciful mythology as a basis for formulating important political and societal policy. Theological beliefs that vary across denominations are best disputed within the context of religion.It may seem rushed to dismiss the popular notion of an everlasting soul in one short paragraph, but space restrictions compel me to move forward. That said let’s move on to the real issues of importance when talking about abortion.Biological development is often used as an argumentative device by both pro-life and pro-choice organizations. Urban terrorist organizations such as Operation Rescue like to show graphic photos of tiny body parts mixed in with a glob of bloody post-abortion flesh. The notion is that if these “little people” have similar physical features as we do then they must share the same amount of humanity as everyone else. The emotional charm of this persuasive technique is also employed by more mainstream pro-life groups. Often they’ll detail which stages of fetal development you’ll find the first heart beat, thumb sucking or leg kick. The goal once again is to help people associate fetuses with physical attributes that we observe as being human.Upon being presented with such details the skeptical among us would probably ask; is something equally as important as a human simply because it looks like one? What if a sculptor used protoplasmic goo to shape a figure that had the same physical features as a human but was as hollow as a cheap chocolate Easter bunny? Obviously there is more to being human than just appearance.Many pro-lifers would justly point out that there are further differences between the aforementioned human mold and an actual developing fetus. One has the potential to become a cognitive person, the other doesn’t. They may then go on to make the erroneous conclusion that potentiality is a sound determinant in the abortion debate. The argument of potentiality has no real boundaries and can be easily carried out to extremes.Is birth control amoral because it prevents a potential new human from being created? Should we hold funerals for every egg that is lost through ovulation and every sperm that is lost through masturbation? When a spouse declines sex are they greedily denying life to a potential new baby?It seems clear that potentiality and biological similarity are poor factors in determining the morality of abortion. What ought to be used in making this important decision is the very ingredient in what makes us truly human. The ability to think.Around the 30th week of pregnancy brain wave patterns are detected that are similar to fully developed humans. Between the 24th and the 27th week the neurons become significantly linked. Before that time the fetus has the cognitive ability of jar of mayonnaise and should be treated as such when its “rights” are in conflict with the rights of the woman.The ability to think is what makes us uniquely human. Future debates on abortion should revolve around this significant truth.
Robert Nekervis is a frequent contributor to the Lantern who wishes he had more page space to further elaborate his thoughts.
