person

January 17, 2017

Is the foetus a person?

Is the foetus a person? – Notes are taken from internet sites such as Yahoo answers and my own knowledge 

Yes it is because…

  1. Life begins at conception – and ‘the body is the temple is the temple of the holy spirit’
  2. Judge – who is to judge what a ‘person’ is 
  3. Self- conscious – “Babies Remember Birth,” David Chamberlain, Ph.D., indicates there are pre-birth memories, indicating individuality.
  4. Size – A six-foot woman on life-support is a person; a six-inch foetus girl on life support is a person. Degree of energy-independence is not a determining factor.
  5. Location – A six-foot woman in a room or in Yosemite camping is a person; a fetal girl in a womb is a person. Location is not a determining factor of personhood.
  6. Age – A 60-year-old woman is a person; a fetal girl of six prenatal months is a person. Age is not a determining factor of personhood.

No it is not because…

  1. Birth marks the beginning of a true person because if you think that in the Genesis man was nothing until God gave a breath of life and so a baby is not a living human until it is born.
  2. Personhood – the embryo/foetus does not have the seven criteria which gives it equal rights as the mother (rationality, self-awareness, ability to act intentionally, biographical considerations as opposed to biological considerations, ability to establish relationships, sentience, ability to communicate)
  3. Rights – Whose rights are more important those of the mother or the embryo – a real person vs a potential person
  4. Ectopic pregnancies and disabilities – double effect because the mother is not only at risk and suffers extreme pain the foetus is likely to never develop into a full and proper human being so why keep the pregnancy?
  5. Image of God – God is said to be the giver and take of life and if we are made in the image of God shouldn’t we be allowed to do the same.
  6. Viability – The embryo isn’t even viable till 24-weeks so how this embryo who relies on the mother have greater rights than the mother.
  7. Ensoulment – Many including theologians like St Augustine believe that when the embryo ‘quicks’ i.e. starts to move (which is at about 16/17 weeks) the embryo has been ensouled so before that the embryo is just another animal.
  8. Peter Singer – He believes that a human being is a “person” weeks after birth and a shrimp’s life is more important than a foetus.
  9. Aboriginal people – They believe it is only a person once it is named.
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