{"id":323389,"date":"2024-12-21T09:24:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T15:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=323389"},"modified":"2024-12-19T15:32:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:32:33","slug":"danger-darkness-treating-abortion-arbitrary-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/danger-darkness-treating-abortion-arbitrary-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"GUEST OPINION: The danger and darkness of treating abortion as an arbitrary issue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the guest author. Minor edits have been made for clarity.<\/i><\/p>\n

With regard to abortion, here is the <\/span>current state<\/span><\/a> of the country: in 13 states, abortion is banned; in 10 states, abortion is legal until anywhere from six to 22 weeks of gestational age; in 18 states, abortion is legal until viability; in nine states, abortion is legal with no gestational age limit. Given that the debate of this topic centers on its morality, specific to whether abortion constitutes murder, it is distressing that the lives of millions are at the mercy of arbitrary and incongruous standards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Arbitrariness has existed at every level of the pro-choice movement, including in the singular word that has driven the argument for abortion: \u201cviability.\u201d Viability, in theory, is the point in which the fetus is able to survive outside of the womb, though even with the available medical technology it is still challenging to pinpoint the exact moment the baby could do so. The standard for viability also depends on the equipment available at any given hospital to assist in keeping the baby alive when outside of the womb. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some countries also have different standards of the term, while in America the generally accepted standard for viability rests at around 23 to 24 weeks of gestational age (though children born prematurely<\/a> have survived<\/a> at 21 weeks gestation). This is the point where morality and legality clash, for in the 18 states where the law legalizes abortion until viability, an incoherent moral standard is created that a child\u2019s life ought not to be aborted at 25 weeks, but could very well be just days before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Should morality \u2014 what is right or wrong in how we live \u2014 be determined by human intellect?<\/span><\/p>\n

The two main arguments of abortion advocates<\/strong><\/p>\n

The moral and legal incoherence is also showcased in the 10 states where abortion is legal until anywhere from six to 22 weeks of gestational age. And, of course, in the nine states where abortion is legal with no gestational age limit, the law establishes a morality completely determined by the finite intellect of the mother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the standard of viability to determine when one could legally abort a baby, pro-choice advocates are arguing two things \u2014 the first being that dependency<\/em> is a significant factor in whether the fetus survives. <\/span><\/p>\n

Degrees of dependency, however, ought to play a non-existent role in this decision. Should history provide any indication of what ought to occur, a human being who is more vulnerable and dependent should receive utmost protection under the law, not destruction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The second thing pro-choice advocates argue, with the legal standard of viability, is that there is a determinable point in the baby\u2019s development where a shift in the value of life occurs. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is unquestionable, and <\/span>commonly accepted<\/span><\/a>, that human life begins at conception. As the baby grows inside the mother\u2019s womb, humans have daringly attempted to pinpoint a moment when the value of the life outweighs the preference of the mother, or even when the worth of continuing childbearing outweighs the happiness of the mother. Without scientific, moral, or ethical means to support their claim that viability \u2014 the already arbitrary standard \u2014 is a reasonable point to establish this life-value shift, pro-abortionists have established legal means to override any scientific, moral, or ethical rationality against it.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is just one example of how standards of protecting human life have become all too arbitrary and dangerously incoherent.<\/span><\/p>\n