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From: dolan@ihnp1.UUCP (Mike Dolan)
Newsgroups: net.abortion
Subject: misconception
Message-ID: <220@ihnp1.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 27-Mar-84 14:32:15 EST
Article-I.D.: ihnp1.220
Posted: Tue Mar 27 14:32:15 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Mar-84 01:47:47 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 42

<line-eater food>

There is one serious misconception stated in two of Kenn's recent
replies.

In "Re: Pro-which-life(?)" Kenn states:

	"A fetus can't feel it's death.  It can't suffer."

That is completely wrong.  A fetus can feel and suffer.  Experiments
have shown that a fetus will in fact learn to shift away from
unpleasant sensations.  This is in fact one of the most common
phenomena.  The fetus normally shifts itself around to become more
comfortable.  When the mother lies down on her back, the fetus will
normally shift to one side or the other to avoid having the mother's
spine pressing uncomfortably into it.  Ask a mother who has been
kicked from within while the fetus goes through its gymnastics.

In "Re: Who has the right over our bodies?" Kenn states:

	"Butterflies are abundant, they don't belong to anyone
	 else, and (non-trivia here: ) they die without pain,
	 without realizing their death.  If we can accept and
	 do this to something as beautiful and precious as a
	 butterfly, why can't we do it to a fetus?"

I find a great distinction between a butterfly and a fetus/child/...
I think that at the bottom of this distinction is my understanding
of the fetus/child/... as a true human being.  Human life is more
precious than that of a butterfly.  That is a basic axiom that I
hold and that is held by our society.  I acknowledge that we
disagree on whether the fetus/child/... is a human being.  However,
I cannot equate an unborn child to a butterfly.  And I have yet to
see an argument here that an unborn child is not a human being that
I do not find logical arguments against.


Have a good day,
Mike Dolan
AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
ihnp4!ihnp1!dolan