Friday, January 18, 2008
Abortion Solution
I've a real solution to the abortion situation.
The problem: no one can decide when it's a baby.
The far right are wrong. It is not the moment of conception.
The far left are wrong. It is not the moment of birth.
The reason this line is so blurry is that it depends on technology. As technology improves the point at which the baby can live independently from the mother changes and hence the point as which it becomes an independent life changes. The woman has the right to make decisions about her own body, but not to make life or death decisions for her children.
Here's my solution. We make it the hospital's charter to attempt to save the baby no matter the situation. If the baby lives it is given up for adoption. If the baby dies it's body is donated to medical science. Abortion would essentially be abolished in favor of pre-birth adoption. At first it would work very similarly to the current situation but as technology improves there would be a higher and higher survival rate.
There are a few possible problem. One is that it would force our medical industry to spend billions on technology to bring premature babies to term. I think that this is a valuable technology, and would prime the United States to become a world leader in genetic engineering over the coming decades. The other possible drawback is that you'd get a lot of handicapped children, but I'd hope the pro-lifers could find it in their bleeding-hearts to help take care of these misfit children.
Solution achieved. Pro choices maintain the choice to abandon a pregnancy in any term and the pro lifers get the moral satisfaction of knowing that the state never condones intentionally ending a premature baby’s life. Everyone wins.
The problem: no one can decide when it's a baby.
The far right are wrong. It is not the moment of conception.
The far left are wrong. It is not the moment of birth.
The reason this line is so blurry is that it depends on technology. As technology improves the point at which the baby can live independently from the mother changes and hence the point as which it becomes an independent life changes. The woman has the right to make decisions about her own body, but not to make life or death decisions for her children.
Here's my solution. We make it the hospital's charter to attempt to save the baby no matter the situation. If the baby lives it is given up for adoption. If the baby dies it's body is donated to medical science. Abortion would essentially be abolished in favor of pre-birth adoption. At first it would work very similarly to the current situation but as technology improves there would be a higher and higher survival rate.
There are a few possible problem. One is that it would force our medical industry to spend billions on technology to bring premature babies to term. I think that this is a valuable technology, and would prime the United States to become a world leader in genetic engineering over the coming decades. The other possible drawback is that you'd get a lot of handicapped children, but I'd hope the pro-lifers could find it in their bleeding-hearts to help take care of these misfit children.
Solution achieved. Pro choices maintain the choice to abandon a pregnancy in any term and the pro lifers get the moral satisfaction of knowing that the state never condones intentionally ending a premature baby’s life. Everyone wins.
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