Quote:
Originally Posted by DerekB  Because it isn't just potential. Potential implies it might now. It is all but guaranteed that it will. That's why. |
False. 10-25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. [American Pregnancy Association,
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pre...carriage.html] Quote:
Thought experiment:
I have to choose between saving two lives, yours or somebody elses (don't ask how this situation arose, because I have no idea  ). Now, he is a midlevel executive at a charity, and a reasonably good person. You, at this time, have no family, no friends, and are unemployed with no skills. You too are a reasonably good person. If I had to choose to save one of you however, I would probably have to pick the businessman. If, however, I knew that you would eventually discover the cure for cancer and develop a process for cloning organs to extend human life indefinitely, I would obviously choose to save you. Therefore, future worth matters regardless of present worth.
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That is not equivalent to how ethical decisions can be made in real life. In that example, for one, you are choosing based on the benefit to society, not by the person's interests themselves (or their "right to life"), in a case where someone
must die, and where killing either person would plainly be considered murder.
When you are arguing that fetuses should not be aborted, it is for their own potential future benefit (or "right to life"). As there is absolutely no way of knowing what effect they as individuals will have on society, it is not a valid way to make this ethical determination.
The two situations are not equivalent.