{"id":100,"date":"2012-04-17T06:42:11","date_gmt":"2012-04-17T10:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=100"},"modified":"2012-04-17T06:50:52","modified_gmt":"2012-04-17T10:50:52","slug":"after-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=100","title":{"rendered":"after birth"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a current events observer in search of wisdom (or yes, also, a lack of it),<\/em> every so often an issue evolves that causes far more than a pregnant pause.\u00a0 In order to accurately dissect the wisdom, allow me to first share the facts.\u00a0 I will omit emotive expression… at least initially.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Journal of Medical Ethics released 6-8 weeks ago, 2 Australian philosophers argued the case for \u201cafter-birth abortion.\u201d\u00a0 Note that I did not write \u201cpartial-birth abortion.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cPartial-birth\u201d is a term created by the pro-life movement.\u00a0 The term \u201cafter-birth abortion\u201d was put forth by Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva. \u00a0They propose the following:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen circumstances occur after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible\u2026\u00a0 We propose to call this practice \u2018after-birth abortion\u2019, rather than \u2018infanticide,\u2019 to emphasize that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus\u2026 rather than to that of a child. Therefore, we claim that killing a newborn could be ethically permissible in all the circumstances where abortion would be. Such circumstances include cases where the newborn has the potential to have an (at least) acceptable life, but the well-being of the family is at risk.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The authors stated desire is to reframe infanticide.\u00a0 In their argument, the philosophers suggest that any<\/em><\/strong> maternal interest trumps the value of the newborn.\u00a0 Actually, identifying the baby as a \u201cnewborn\u201d is not always their choice of words.\u00a0 They write…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf a potential person, like a fetus and a newborn, does not become an actual person, like you and us, then there is neither an actual nor a future person who can be harmed, which means that there is no harm at all…\u00a0 In these cases, since non-persons have no moral rights to life, there are no reasons for banning after-birth abortions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The baby born is referred to by the 2 intelligent philosophers as a \u201cnon-person.\u201d\u00a0 Not \u201can actual person.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The above are the facts.\u00a0 Now the emotion.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Are you kidding me?! \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A \u201cnon-person\u201d?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo reason\u201d to ban the practice?<\/p>\n

\u201cNo harm at all\u201d?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where is the line between infanticide and abortion?\u00a0 When does murder come into play?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Note that this coming Thursday, the Intramuralist will again address society\u2019s ethical \u201cslippery slope.\u201d\u00a0 This will serve as example #1.\u00a0 Egad.)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After substantial outrage, no less, to this after-birth article (which the Journal of Medical Ethics has since pulled from public viewing),<\/em> the authors attempted to extinguish the growing firestorm, suggesting the proposal was never intended for public view; it was solely meant to be an \u201cacademic debate\u201d among \u201cfellow bioethicists\u201d already familiar with the topic and arguments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But tell me, why in academia do the proclaimed most intelligent believe the killing of life is even an appropriate debate?\u00a0 Regardless for who this debate was intended, how can such proposal be deemed ethical by any?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Intramuralist concludes with a few familiar refrains:\u00a0 first, intelligence and wisdom are definitely not equal.\u00a0 There is no wisdom in this debate, regardless of with whom it takes place and how supposedly smart the participants are.\u00a0 Intelligence and wisdom are not synonyms, a fact of which academia often seems unaware.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And second, allow me to ask:\u00a0 who are we to demean the value of someone else\u2019s life?\u00a0 Whether that be due to income?\u00a0 … race?\u00a0 … gender?\u00a0 … or in this case, a newborn babe?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A person.\u00a0 An actual person. \u00a0Life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a current events observer in search of wisdom (or yes, also, a lack of it), every so often an issue evolves that causes far more than a pregnant pause.\u00a0 In order to accurately dissect the wisdom, allow me to first share the facts.\u00a0 I will omit emotive expression… at least initially.   In the … <\/p>\n

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