I tend to feel that a fetus at any stage has the moral status of a lint ball, but I feel the same way about a six-month-old infant. As early human brains (and skulls) grew bigger over hundreds of thousands of years, it was a selective advantage to be born before development is complete. (Big head through small pelvis equals dead baby and dead mother.) A six-month-old human infant is about as functional on most "human" traits as an eight-month-old fetus. Comparative animal studies also support this.
I'm not arguing for legalizing abortion on demand for six-month-old infants. I'm just pointing out that birth is not a watershed for moral standing. It's just a convenient place for a safe maximum upper bound to ensure society never allows termination of an individual with even the tiniest shred of moral standing. That's how I get around the seeming paradox of "sudden" moral standing for a newborn. We're just being conservative and generous by giving each newborn infant its own stylish carrying case.
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winterfish
no subject
Date: 2011-09-30 09:51 pm (UTC)I'm not arguing for legalizing abortion on demand for six-month-old infants. I'm just pointing out that birth is not a watershed for moral standing. It's just a convenient place for a safe maximum upper bound to ensure society never allows termination of an individual with even the tiniest shred of moral standing. That's how I get around the seeming paradox of "sudden" moral standing for a newborn. We're just being conservative and generous by giving each newborn infant its own stylish carrying case.