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diff --git a/socpol/abortion.7 b/socpol/abortion.7 deleted file mode 100644 index db19904..0000000 --- a/socpol/abortion.7 +++ /dev/null @@ -1,87 +0,0 @@ -.Dd July 26, 2022 -.Dt abortion socpol -.Os Runxi Yu -.Sh NAME -.Nm abortion -.Nd Something I wrote about abortion two years back -.Sh DESCRIPTION -.Pp -In 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled -seven-to-two in favor of Roe's rights to abortion against a healthcare -official of the state of Texas. Roe argued for abortion with -"privacy", derived from the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment of the US -Constitution. As the U.S. is a common law jurisdiction, this effectively -legalizes abortion across the country. -.Pp -However, as Roe's case was argued for based on privacy rather than body -autonomy or similar rights, it left a question into if abortion is -indeed a right that women should have. After all, if someone is accused -of murder, the suspect's privacy is not a reason to not investigate the -case further. Those against abortion often believe that abortion is -murder, and thus the privacy argument wouldn't stand long. -.Pp -In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned this -precedent, -and now the abortion rights of women in the united states are in a void. -This memo focuses on discussing the notion of abortion itself, and -briefly comments on the decision of the Court. -.Pp -Some people believe that because fetus is human life, and abortion is -nonvoluntary (as in nonvoluntary by the life terminated) termination of -human life, thus abortion is murder and is unacceptable. -.Pp -This reasoning is flawed---nonvoluntary termination of human life, even -when the decision-maker understands the consequence of their action, may -or not be murder. -.Pp -Involuntary termination of life isn't always murder. Consider yourself -an average person in the United States. You live on paychecks and -you're living an average life in a comfortable house. You noticed a -poor person, without food, proper clothes, or shelter, sleeping in the -street, almost frozen to death. You took them home, giving them food, -clothes and shelter. But one day, out of whatever reason you decided to -stop supporting that person and remove them from the house back onto the -street. You understanded that they will have a hard time finding foot, -shelter and clothes. They deceased because of the cold. -.Pp -The poor person was life, and your decision did cause their decession. -But is this murder? Man-slaughter? Any kind of statutory offense? No, -not really, it's merely termination of voluntary support that you -provided for another person. -.Pp -There is a subtle, but eventually significant difference between helping -a person down the street and voluntary pregnency. (Involuntary pregnency -is basically "alright, here comes a person at your doorstep, you MUST -help them and keep them alive", there's not much to discuss there in -my opinion.) -.Pp -In the last example, the ethicalness of terminating support would be -different if you and the person receiving help signed an explicit -contract giving you the responsibility to help them but you terminate -the support when the contract is still valid. -.Pp -Indeed, the fetus did not sign a contract with the mother that obligates -the mother to carry to term. But similarly, children don't sign -contracts with their parents to take care of them, but we consider -parents who don't take care of their children and such to be child -abuse. But they are different. -.Pp -A scientific definition of life which includes bacteria, fungi, -parasites, plants, animals and many other forms of life doesn't seem -inherently valuable to us---almost all of us don't feel bad killing -bacteria with an ultraviolet lamp, don't feel bad killing plants for -consumption, and don't feel bad stepping on a mosquito. Many of us -don't feel bad consuming animals for food. We value human life because -it allows us to pursue what we want and live a life. But a fetus cannot -do that: though the fetus is biologically a human, it doesn't have the -very characteristics that make the life valuable: It doesn't have -meaningful brain activity and cannot pursue what it wants. -.Pp -Abortion is just okay before the cerebrum (the part of the brain -responsible for thinking) develops, which is usually at the end of the -second trimester. Abortion after meaningful cerebrum activity is -detected should be considered with care because at that time the -fetus's life would be considered valuable. -.Sh SEE ALSO -.Pp -.Lk https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ |