Premature birth and advancements in medicine?

Question

With advancements in medicine a baby surviving outside the womb is getting younger and younger. As technology advances do you believe this will change the way abortion is looked at when people say it is not life until it can survive outside the womb?

Answer 1

Expanding on 'oh brothers' answer--my nephew was born at 24 weeks (15 years ago) weighing 1# 4 oz. The smallest child ever to survive at St Joes Hospital in Milwaukee at the time. I have heard the libs argue of the enormous costs of keeping such a child alive (putting a price on the lives of our precious children). They will also tell you their lives will be miserable--they will have so many disabilities. Don't tell my nephew that--aside from being very skinny--he is a healthy, normal, active, sweet, smart 15 year old boy. Yes, it was a rough beginning--he didn't leave the hospital for four months. He is an amazing kid and I resent the caviler attitude liberals take of human life--how easily they disregard our children--yet so hypocritically decry the loss of our soldiers who so BRAVELY VOLUNTEERED to give them that right. (see cynical above)

Answer 2

I have always felt like that arguement was flawed.

I'll look up my aunt's answer again. She has many points on illogical arguements concerning abortion.

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"The arguments on both side are frequently emotional and not thought out.

"Choose life; your mother did." The same logic can be applied to not using birth control.

"The baby you want to abort could be the next Albert Einstein or Martin Luther King" or maybe the next Hitler.

"It's not fair to bring an unwanted baby into the world."
Haven't you heard of how many people are on a long list for adopting a child? This goes for all races now days. This argument only applies to handicapped kids. Then I wonder, couldn't you apply the same logic to the children after they're born? What is the scientific difference between a late-term fetus and a new-born baby?

"My Body - My Choice" But the fact of the matter is (at least at some stage of the development) there is another human life IN your body. And in the vast majority of the cases, the woman had a choice before getting pregnant! Birth Control!

You may religiously believe life begins at conception, but you can't legislate by religion.

And just because it isn't fair for a woman to have to have a baby she didn't want just because she waited to long into the pregnancy to make the decision, does that mean it's fair to kill the baby?

The question, is it a lump of tissue or a human life!

So what I'd like to see is SCIENTIFIC DATA to determine when life begins.

WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN!

Before life begins -
It is OBVIOUSLY a woman's right to have an abortion.

After life begins -
It is OBVIOUSLY killing a human to have an abortion.

Not that makes things simple, but that should be the basis of the argument."

Answer 3

I don't think that the abortion laws would change, the baby's
mother (what an oxymoron that is) will not want to have to
deal with raising the baby or any of the things that need to
be done to preserve the life.

The US averages 4,000 abortions a day, wouldn't if be
wonderful if we could get this number down to zero.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if a baby had a CHANCE to
survive outside the womb instead of being sucked in to
pieces by some machine.

Answer 4

At the rate of tehnological advancement, it won't be long before we can conceive and grow a human fetus outside the womb entirely.

What then of the argument of the sanctity of life? Is it still a human life? Would it be acceptable for a completely infertile couple (woman does not have a uterus to hold a child) to have a child by using their DNA in such a way as to "grow" a child in such an artificial womb?

The whole thing is a big can of worms that we are barely starting to address.

~X~

Answer 5

I started to answer this and withdrew my answer because I felt it was not the answer you were seeking. Here goes anyway. My twin grand daughters weighed less than three pounds at birth. One had her first open heart surgery at four pounds. My thankfulness to God and the Doctors that preserved their lives. They are now eight years old and one will have open heart surgery again in July. The advances in Medical technology have given this child her least on life that 20 years ago would not have been available. To those that say a fetus is just tissue, that is how all life begins. It is life from the second of conception. My own personal feeling is God must have a special reward for abortion Doctors.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, I believe that whole idea is a straw horse. The whole idea of abortion is a cause rallied behind by liberals as a symbol of feminism and women's freedom from enslavement by men. The logic or facts do not matter, only the gut reaction that can played upon by the would be politcal leaders in the left is what really matters. As soon as you shoot down one argument for abortion, others, even more illogical, will continue to pop up.

Answer 7

If doctors can eventually 'remove' a 1 month old fetus from a womb and sustain its life until it can develop and be placed for adoption, then that will be a good thing.

Answer 8

What happens when we advance enough we can grow babies without a human body at all? Will a term limit baby be born or hatched? I don't believe it will change the way people view abortion, those who are in favor of choice, it will only affect those against abortion, as your question implies you do.

Answer 9

Unless they can show a 5 week embryo and let it survive on its own. It won't change anything because most fetuses aren't viable until 5 or third trimester. It doesn't change anything.

Ckl4b- Who says I'm a liberal? I'm not, I just hate stupid questions and even though I'm against the war is not because the soldiers are losing their lives. Is because of the bad stragetic planning and no benefits for us. Think before you speak, maybe you will learn more.

Answer 10

I sure hope so. Since we do not know for sure all that goes on, I suggest legally making a child a child at birth. After all it is life.