Originally Posted by
cowmeat
And before someone says: "Doesn't the fetus have a right to its own body" Well kind of yes, but is the right of a functionless mesh of cells that cant even feel pain larger than a full grown humans?
Adding on to this a bit, this is why Ele suggested that we try and figure out at what point a developing fetus can be counted as a human. I am unable to find any references because I don't know the exact wording, but in the US, there are laws in place that say that you are in charge of your own body, even as a baby. This is why you must personally sign up to be an organ donor. These laws even apply to corpses. Morticians cannot take organs from a dead man's body and give them to the hostpital to use in transplants unless that person previously signed up as a donor. This is where the whole abortion debate gets hazy. Of course the mother has a right to her own body, but what about the fetus? Surely if a dead person still has rights over their own body, shouldn't a fetus as well? And then these questions loop back into the debate over whether a fetus is really a person or not.