When was it decided that a fetus was not a living life? And who decided this?

Question

I was just wondering if it really was the government that persuaded prochoice people to believe abortion wasn't taking lives. I got my answer. Thanks.

Answer 1

since you are asking a question that borders on philosophy and science, I don't think that a US law case is really the answer to your question.

the answer is no one "decided", it just is the way it is, in the same way that the sky is blue.

all animals (and plants for that matter) go through various stages of life.

humans go through gametes, fetus, born-but not dead (for lack of a better term) and dead.

that is basic biology.

it has nothing to do with government - all mammals in all countries have the same set of cycles.

sometimes there are gray areas of when you move from one stage to the next (although you never go backwards). But in general, I am sure you agree on the stages.

maybe there is something deeply philosphical about it, but our government, and frankly anyone I am familar with currently or at any time in the past, has had its laws created by, enforced by, and for the benefit solely by those of us in the "born but not yet dead" stage.

Why?

Because of all the stages, this is the one where we can act rationally and do such things. the other stages, not so much. not at all really.

there are no counter examples in history or current to this.

ever.

Could a society exist that assigned some sort of legal standing to people at the other stages?

Sure, I guess so, if you could either find your place to start anew (as the early United States did) and build from there, or, failing that, persuade the otherwise secular government to toss aside its existign legal framework and history and all it stands for and has ever stood for,  in order to replace it with a theocracratically based set of laws.

I suppose that could happen.

It has happened, in my lifetime if not yours, in places like Iran in 1979, many other Middle Eastern states, Afghanistan in the Taliban era, and, well, you get the picture of the kinds of places those are.

Yes, places with official or even unofficial state religions are not the kinds of places that Americans have ever felt worth emulating.

That is why we have the 1st Amendment - to ensure above all else our government remains secular in nature.

So you see, no decisions were made, and it is just a consequence of the system we have.

Unless you are prepared to overthrow the system completely, to have it otherwise is simply not compatible with history of all nations, or the system ours has in place, and it never will be.

You really have to change minds to persuade people our fundamental view of liberty and government is wrong if you want to start to change minds on the topic.

Do keep me informed on how that goes for you :)

Answer 2

Your definition of when a fetus is a living life, is something between you and your own morals/ conscience.  A person who believes differently from you (pro or anti abortion) may have a different belief, which comes from THEIR personal morals.  In any debate/ argument situation here, it generally is a dispute between beliefs.

The hard part to remember is that what is determined by legal authorities, is not the same thing as personal choices. As mentioned above, the deciding case on this issue was Roe vs Wade. The whole point of the case is not to make the choice (which is up to you) but to make explicit that this choice is up to the individual woman.  

Answer 3

Roe v Wade

Answer 4

Roe v Wade  - - The Supreme Court

Answer 5

I don't think the asker is asking for specific legal defining limits.  I think she wants to get to the root of the idea that it's ok to abort because it's not a human life.  It goes way beyond Roe vs. Wade, abortions have been happening for years, if not the way we know them today, which many people don't know much about them today, even pro-choice.  Also, Roe vs. Wade did not specify at which point the fetus became a living being.  They said that congress needed to decide that.

Answer 6

A fetus is a parasite it feeds off of its host.