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Okay, so you can bend to "life of the mother" exception. I can follow this a bit further then. How do you handle and account for miscarriages? A sizable number

Okay, so you can bend to "life of the mother" exception. I can follow this a bit further then. How do you handle and account for miscarriages? A sizable number of pregnancies end in miscarriage - especially if we view life as beginning at conception. So in miscarriage the mother has ended the life of the child. What's the framework with which you believe this should be dealt with? What's to be done with people who have biological disorders leading to problems with gestation? After all, if life starts at conception then it's pretty quickly no longer just a woman's body.

xupybd 10y ago
How is a miscarriage any different to an infant dying of natural causes? Sometimes babies die naturally it's sad, but there is a huge difference between dying naturally and dying due to intervention or neglect. Surly you can see there is a big difference between a woman having medically difficulty bringing a child to term and an abortion? In the one case she has done all she can to provide for the child in the other she has actively pursued this child's termination. If the mother and the child are going to die with out intervention you attempt to save both. That may mean an early birth or c-section giving the child little to no chance at survival, but you still try, you still treat that child as a human.
- artimaeis 10y ago
  Of course I see the difference. But think of the perspective of the state here. The state must protect the life of the child, as it is a full citizen of the state. When an infant dies of natural causes it's usually trivially simple to rule out murder. But in the case of miscarriage/abortion the procedure for early-term abortion simply causes a miscarriage. So in order to adequately protect the life of the child we'd need to be able to determine if the miscarriage was forced or not. What, in your view, is the ideal role of the state as a protector of life in this situation?

xupybd 10y ago

How is a miscarriage any different to an infant dying of natural causes? Sometimes babies die naturally it's sad, but there is a huge difference between dying naturally and dying due to intervention or neglect. Surly you can see there is a big difference between a woman having medically difficulty bringing a child to term and an abortion? In the one case she has done all she can to provide for the child in the other she has actively pursued this child's termination. If the mother and the child are going to die with out intervention you attempt to save both. That may mean an early birth or c-section giving the child little to no chance at survival, but you still try, you still treat that child as a human.

artimaeis 10y ago
Of course I see the difference. But think of the perspective of the state here. The state must protect the life of the child, as it is a full citizen of the state. When an infant dies of natural causes it's usually trivially simple to rule out murder. But in the case of miscarriage/abortion the procedure for early-term abortion simply causes a miscarriage. So in order to adequately protect the life of the child we'd need to be able to determine if the miscarriage was forced or not. What, in your view, is the ideal role of the state as a protector of life in this situation?