Interesting proposal, I teach Ethics for a local University and my undergraduate students have to look at the issue of abortion within a medical ethics perspective. I encourage students to stay away from political statements and focus on the facts of this issue: 1) Is the fetus a human being? and 2) What are recent technological advances telling us about DNA and life or Ultrasounds images of first trimester fetuses? I also present them with some data like:
1. Only 1 percent of abortions are done due to rape or incest. About 93 percent of all abortions are for social reasons. This includes fears the baby will interfere with work, school, relationship with husband or partner, economic situation or social status. Are these reasons strong enough to ethically justify the act of abortion?
2. A cruel twist in this debate is that generally men are more pro-abortion than women. Young men ages 18-25 are the most pro-abortion. Sidewalk counselors at abortion clinics frequently witness the man pushing the woman to abort. Abortion remains a convenient escape of parental responsibility for men.
3. Medical facts include that aborting women suffer more subsequent ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, premature births, handicapped children, infertility, chronic depression and suicides than women who carry their baby to term. Especially disturbing is the connection between abortion and breast cancer, as observed in 27 of 33 studies worldwide.
4. Planned Parenthood is being asked to inform patients of the link between breast cancer and abortion. Reports show termination of pregnancy interrupts cellular changes that occur in the breast during pregnancy. According to recent figures, 28 out of 37 studies link abortion to a 30% to 800% increased risk of breast cancer. Legal precedence linking abortion to breast cancer was first made in Australia on December 28, 2001.
The above are just facts that my students must consider on this issue before jumping to an emotional response in this heated societal issue. From my point of view (I tried to stay neutral when I am teaching on this subject) I would say that first, according to biological definition, we know that the fetus growing in the womb is "alive" from the moment of conception (cell growth/development occurs immediately). Second, we know that the nature of the life in that womb is undeniably "human" (the miracle of DNA). Third, by definition, an abortion terminates the fetus within the womb, which is alive and human by nature of its DNA. Therefore, abortion is the act of terminating a human life in development. Legal or not, medically safe or not, this is not a choice we can make without considering the implications of what it means to disrupt the DNA programming that results in a human being.
I recently finished reading a great book by Francis Collins: "The Language of God", doctor Collins was the Director of the Human Genome project, fascinating book that unveils the wonders of our creation by explaining what it meant to him the discovery of our "map of life" the trillions of genetic coding that makes us human which starts the second an egg is fertilized by the sperm. I highly recommend this reading.
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Interesting proposal, I teach Ethics for a local University and my undergraduate students have to look at the issue of abortion within a medical ethics perspective. I encourage students to stay away from political statements and focus on the facts of this issue: 1) Is the fetus a human being? and 2) What are recent technological advances telling us about DNA and life or Ultrasounds images of first trimester fetuses? I also present them with some data like:
1. Only 1 percent of abortions are done due to rape or incest. About 93 percent of all abortions are for social reasons. This includes fears the baby will interfere with work, school, relationship with husband or partner, economic situation or social status. Are these reasons strong enough to ethically justify the act of abortion?
2. A cruel twist in this debate is that generally men are more pro-abortion than women. Young men ages 18-25 are the most pro-abortion. Sidewalk counselors at abortion clinics frequently witness the man pushing the woman to abort. Abortion remains a convenient escape of parental responsibility for men.
3. Medical facts include that aborting women suffer more subsequent ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, premature births, handicapped children, infertility, chronic depression and suicides than women who carry their baby to term. Especially disturbing is the connection between abortion and breast cancer, as observed in 27 of 33 studies worldwide.
4. Planned Parenthood is being asked to inform patients of the link between breast cancer and abortion. Reports show termination of pregnancy interrupts cellular changes that occur in the breast during pregnancy. According to recent figures, 28 out of 37 studies link abortion to a 30% to 800% increased risk of breast cancer. Legal precedence linking abortion to breast cancer was first made in Australia on December 28, 2001.
The above are just facts that my students must consider on this issue before jumping to an emotional response in this heated societal issue. From my point of view (I tried to stay neutral when I am teaching on this subject) I would say that first, according to biological definition, we know that the fetus growing in the womb is "alive" from the moment of conception (cell growth/development occurs immediately). Second, we know that the nature of the life in that womb is undeniably "human" (the miracle of DNA). Third, by definition, an abortion terminates the fetus within the womb, which is alive and human by nature of its DNA. Therefore, abortion is the act of terminating a human life in development. Legal or not, medically safe or not, this is not a choice we can make without considering the implications of what it means to disrupt the DNA programming that results in a human being.
I recently finished reading a great book by Francis Collins: "The Language of God", doctor Collins was the Director of the Human Genome project, fascinating book that unveils the wonders of our creation by explaining what it meant to him the discovery of our "map of life" the trillions of genetic coding that makes us human which starts the second an egg is fertilized by the sperm. I highly recommend this reading.
March 14, 2009 - 11:37pmThis Comment
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