They're Not Just Meaningless Cells?
Fifty babies a year are alive after abortion (Lois Rogers, Times, via Brothers Judd)
A GOVERNMENT agency is launching an inquiry into doctors’ reports that up to 50 babies a year are born alive after botched National Health Service abortions.
The investigation, by the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH), comes amid growing unease among clinicians over a legal ambiguity that could see them being charged with infanticide.
Kill it inside the mother, and it's just a meaningless cluster of cells.
But outside the mother, the cluster of cells becomes an infant (hence worries of infanticide)?
Interesting.
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 11/28/05 20:58 | Other | Technorati
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
Comments
God forbid we should have a "legal ambiguity" that could cause "unease!"
Ugh.
Posted by Matt Bramanti @ 21:00 on 11/28/05
Kevin,
Just FYI, the concept that an infant born alive constitutes a legal "person" is one that has roots going back hundreds of years in Anglo-American law. Note that the definition of a "person" under the law is light years different from the colloquial definition. Unless the infant is born alive, it doesn't attain legal status.
Naturally, I'm not suggesting this concept cannot or ought not be changed, simply pointing out that it is extremely old and deeply rooted.
Posted by TP @ 09:56 on 11/29/05
Notice the difficulty this topic introduces even in the choice of language.
An infant born alive....
But I think some folks would say, "a fetus that escaped the womb due to a botched procedure."
Posted by Kevin @ 22:18 on 11/29/05
Add Comments
While it is not required, creating an account for commenting provides a number of benefits (such as comment editing and bypassing the captcha challenge). You may log in to your account here.
No flames or impolite behavior. Any questions, see the site policies. Older posts are moderated (because of spammers), so if your post does not appear immediately, that could be why.
HTML will be stripped. URLs will be transformed into hyperlinks.
[b]text[/b] will produce bold text. [i]text[/i] will produce italicized text.
Comments for this post must be approved before being published. Thank you!
BLOG
» Create Account
» Log In
DISCLAIMER
Content and design copyright © 1997-2008, Kevin Whited.
Posts represent the views of Kevin Whited (and occasional guest bloggers) only, and do not necessarily reflect the views of employers, family, friends, or significant others.