Abortion and the Soul
After having written an article for the local paper on the issue, I decided this would make perfect sense as an Ethos topic, all be it in altered form.
This deals exclusively with abortion within the first trimester (first three months, about 13 weeks) and the Christian rejection of this practice due to the 'soul'.
This remains one of the most controversial balances between a woman's life and her child's. Some people think that the fish-like creature even at 6 weeks is more important then the life of it's bearer, without which it is dead as it is. Even as late as 13 weeks the creature resembles little more then a 10cm long alien. Measure 10cm with your fingers, about the same size as a mouse, and completely incapable of surviving outside the womb.
But within the first trimester I will also split it further, the stages of embryo (0-8 weeks) and early fetus (8+ weeks). Up until 8 weeks the collection of cells is no more capable of limb movement then a random assortment of human parts, it lacks working essential organs, although there is a brain (useless), lungs (useless) and blood vessels (useless, there being no red blood cells).
But despite this thing being no more alive then a severed human hand, and having even fewer capabilities, the religious will continue to defend it's right to live. Why? It has a soul, and apparently has done since conception.
Remember this belief was formed before people even knew the existence of sperm or eggs, before people discovered them and thought they could actually see little people curled up in the sperm. And yet so many still hold this ridiculous belief.
Let's review the facts of conception. Millions of sperm are pumped into the uterus (a process not even requiring the presence of a male) and thrash about in the general direction of the fallopian tubes. Thousands of these will reach this distant destination, though most will simply die and be destroyed by the woman's natural defenses. Of these thousands most will die, unable to reach the egg due to being too feeble, or swimming in slightly the wrong direction. Of these hundreds left dozens will attack the egg, releasing digestive enzymes which dissolve it's defenses and allow the sperm's DNA to flow into the egg. This causes the exterior of the egg to turn rock hard. Those sperm who didn't get through are simply hacked to pieces by various natural defenses over the course of days to come.
What remains is a zygote, which divides itself repeatedly, eventually forming a blastocyst. This is the collection of cells often used for experiments and transplantation purposes. Now, many religious people believe that somewhere in this process a 'soul' magically entered the cell, making it sacred and untouchable. Bear in mind that the blastocyst is no more alive then the thousands of skin cells you shed every day. Those people who will say "they're potential humans!" have not kept with the times. Now, with present science, you kill thousands of 'potential humans' every time you scratch your head.
Also comes another problem. Twins. Now this can go two ways, either way it makes the claim for a soul sound ridiculous.
If a single egg is fertilised, it can split at many points until very late in the pregnancy, long after the point of blastocyst. This results in identical, or even conjoined, twins. What happens now? The blastocyst only had one soul, when it split did another magically appear or does each twin only have half a soul? It's a ridiculous question for a ridiculous concept.
If two eggs are fertilised, then they both gain a soul, according the Catholics and many other religions at least. Then what happens when the embryo merges, forming a single embryo? Does this human being suddenly have one soul, or does one get removed? Is there a titanic battle as the souls fight for their right to a body? I think not.
There are a few religions, and cults of Christianity (by which I refer to all non-orthodox/catholic denominations) who have reformed to set the date later in pregnancy, and so escape their situation created by science. To which I can only say which person decided this? How are they able to magically determine when a soul enters the body? What gives them the right to decide when a soul forms? This is a very similar situation to the abolishment of purgatory by the Vatican.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Ruin
I seriously doubt there was a time people didn't know about sperm and what its role was...
