> This is HN, some people here probably advocate for abortion after birth.
That’s called murder - the ending of a person, which by the law is a fully born human being. I doubt anybody sane on either side of the political spectrum supports that.
Coming out of the womb doesn't radically change a baby. It is obviously an important event, but a lot of important events happen in the womb, and a lot of important event happen later too. It is more of an arbitrary cutoff.
And it is not completely insane to "abort after birth". It was even suggested to someone I know. The thing is, before birth, they detected potential for some terrible disorder, the kind that result in a (likely short) lifetime of suffering. The doctor asked the mother something along the lines of: "if we find out that the newborn baby has the disorder, we can make a medical error and...".
Thankfully, it all went fine, and the baby is now a healthy middle-aged man with kids and good job.
So, what do you make of it? Could the diagnosis be done in the proper time frame, it would have been an obvious case for abortion, usually the kind of case that warrants an abortion at any stage even in places that are generally against abortion. But just because it took a few minutes after birth to get a proper diagnosis, then it becomes murder?
It is not an easy question. The point between acceptable abortion and murder is somewhere between fertilization and childhood, but where exactly? Many people in the "pro-choice" side of the political spectrum put it at birth, but it is still somewhat arbitrary. Just like the "first heartbeat" criteria of the "pro-life" camp is also arbitrary.
But the same could be said about the life that is about to be born. Life doesn't start the instant the body leaves the womb. Abortion could also be judged in front of a jury.
What I meant is that the line between abortion and infanticide, choice and life, is blurry. And you must admit that if you believe that parents have the responsibility to raise the life they birth, then anti-abortion laws make sense, and if you think that parents should have the right to chose, then legalizing infanticide (within limits) is one thing you should consider.
I am not picking a side here, I am just saying that if you have an opinion on the matter, the cutoff you chose, being the first heartbeat, a certain number of weeks, or birth, it is arbitrary.
There are many anti-women's healthcare advocates actually believe that this is what pro-choice individuals want. It's sometimes said as tongue-in-cheek, but there are people that really believe Planned Parenthood wants post-birth abortions to be legal.
