Posted by Gunnar on June 06, 1999 at 04:17:16:
In Reply to: No brains to suck posted by rpcman on June 05, 1999 at 16:09:52:
: Neurons barely have begun to form by the end of the first trimester (when the vast majority of abortions have already been performed) and they don't begin to link up (and therefore become even the slightest bit useful) until the 24th to 27th week of pregnancy. Far less than 1% of abortions are performed after this point and even those are usually because the life of the baby and mother are at risk.
: For more details, see:
Thank you for posting this. I have long felt that the views Carl Sagan expressed on abortion are the most sensible I have ever read. He pointed out that since it is now generally accepted that the cessation of electrochemical activity in the brain, as measured by an electroencephalgraph, is a legal and moral definition of death (also accepted now by many mainstream religions), it only stands to reason that the commencement of such activity should be the legal definition of the beginning of a human life. Before that point, it is reasonable to suggest that abortion does not constitute the taking of a human life. After that point, it is reasonable to legally limit the situations in which abortion can be allowed, with the limitations becoming increasingly stringent the closer one gets to full term. Unfortunately, extremists on both sides of the pro-choice, pro-life debate seem to be motivated more by emotion than by reason, and are likely to reject this most reasonable conclusion.
Gunnar