So, you are willing to "bargain" for a babie's life?
Abortion is a subject that generates strong opinions and emotions. The Bible actually speaks to a pregnancy being a baby after "quickening". With today's medical science, the fetus can survive outside the mother's body earlier and earlier. It may not be too long before a fertilized egg can be taken all the way to term outside the mother in a "uterine replicator". If so, would you support a woman's choice to move the blastocyst/embroyo/fetus to such a device, giving up all rights and interest to the 'baby'? If you would support that, how do you propose paying for the care of the fetus to term, and then after birth?
I have ambiguous feelings on this topic. I do not believe that a group of 8 or 16 or 32 cells is a 'baby' or a human being. It is estimated that up to 30% of all fertilized eggs spontaneously miscarry or abort before the woman even realizes she is pregnant. So why would God discard that many human beings?
Ectopic pregnancies never result in a viable fetus. If left untreated, they result in a dead woman. I find that the Catholic Church's stance that treating an ectopic pregnancy chemically (resulting in generally saving the woman's fertility) is abortion and surgically (which generally results in the woman losing the ability to have more children) insane. And in some cases, bishops have excommunicated women and doctors who treat ectopic pregnancies. I consider that morally indefensible. When did the life of the mother become less than nothing?
One last comment. Even after "quickening", or viability outside the womb, there are medical conditions that occur that boil down to the mother or the baby, and a choice must be made. A difficult, terrible choice. I vote for the mother. A friend of mine had two pregnancies that had to be aborted in the 7th month, or they would have killed her. She was devastated. She did not want to lose those babies. But she is still alive. Would it have been better for her to die along with the baby?
This topic is not one that can be discussed with any hope of opinions being changed. I suggest we let this topic fade away.
