sanityscraps:

stuartisnotagirlsname:

sanityscraps:

If an embryo or fetus and I have the same exact rights, then that means, that just as I don’t have the right to use someone’s body against their will, neither does a fetus. If you’re going to say a fetus does have that right, then you’re saying that fetuses are more important than other people who can actually suffer from an unwanted pregnancy.

And no, a fetus doesn’t have the right to use someone’s body against their will even when the “right to life” is brought into the equation. By that logic, since the right to life supersedes bodily autonomy, if I need a kidney, I can kidnap and/or kill a random person to get it. My right to life is more important than their bodily autonomy, after all, right?

That proposition is repulsive. If you don’t find it repulsive, then you should. You have to consent to an organ donation—unless you become pregnant, anyway.

Then we’ll have to hold living children to the same standards, surely. I mean, I don’t like it when a little girl tugs on my hair for entertainment. I can take legal actions against her if she persists, according to that logic. We don’t hold children to the same legal standards because, although they are able to reason and follow instructions, their level of reasoning is not as advanced as an adults. Same thing for infants, and CERTAINLY the same thing for fetuses, if we both agree to the definition (presented in this argument) that a fetus is the same as a human being.

But that example does not involve using someone’s body to sustain their life against someone’s will. If a kid plays with your hair, you can pull them away. But as that’s not a threat to your wellbeing, that’s all you can really do about it. An unwanted pregnancy is a threat to your wellbeing, however, meaning that an abortion is a form of self-defense.

Even though we wouldn’t hold fetuses to the same standards, do they really have the right to use someone’s body against their will? Of course not.

You’re right, that was a bad example. A better example would be that of a fussy infant cause mental distress and physical exhaustion in the life of the parent, things that in large enough doses added to the other stresses of life can threaten the well being of the parent (in the most extreme cases, admittedly). Still, the point remains, do we legally accuse the infant of harassment (which is what that is)? No, because they are unaware of what they’re doing in the same way a fetus is unaware of what it is doing. I’m not saying that arguments cannot be made for the case of abortion, I just don’t think this one is it.