[geeks] Socialized medicine [was Re: nVidia 8800GT for Apple Mac Pro]

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> Fine, wait nine months and then ask the baby if it's OK with being
> terminated - you are punishing the fetus for not yet having the powers
> of cognition and communication. The woman's rights trump the baby's
> because she can hit the "buzzer" first when the question is asked...
>
> I am not a fan of that logic...

It's the logic that puts roast in my oven and bacon next to your fried
eggs.

If cows and pigs had the same degree of self-awareness that we do, do
you think we'd slaughter them and serve them up?

The legal argument is that until a child develops that self-awareness,
it's no-harm/no-foul to terminate its existence.  Without a
consciousness, it may feel pain at some chemical level, but the
experience will be even more limited than what we put our livestock
through at the slaughterhouse.

If it's merely the capacity to develop that self-awareness that grants
human rights, onanism should be a capital crime.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke | "There is more to life than increasing its speed."
Elgin, TX         |                                   --Mahatma Gandhi
USA               |