Abortion & Inconsistencies in U.S. Law

The purpose of this research is to examine the issue of abortion and the apparent inconsistency in U.S. law that asserts fetal viability after six months of in utero development yet also asserts the issuance of death certificates for fetuses of 500 grams or more, in the context of the American debate over when life begins. The plan of the research will be to set forth a description of the inconsistency and then to discuss how it informs the debate over when life begins, with reference to Morgan's analytic distinction between the concepts human and person and to views of these concepts held by a variety of societies.

American law is inconsistent in its assertion of fetal viability after six months of development while also mandating treatment of morbid 1 lb 3 oz (500-gram) fetuses as human beings requiring death certificates partly for biological reasons. The biological fact is that if the fetus becomes ex utero after reaching this weight, it will not survive; indeed, although by the sixth month of pregnancy the typical fetus reaches a weight of 1 lb 6 oz, it is the case that internal organs do not sufficiently develop until during (not as of!) the seventh month to survive ex utero (Roche, 1975, p. 435). Accordingly, the need to issue a death certificate based on fetus weight can be viewed as assigning morphological significance in the form of personhood when personhood development is still a medical impossibility. At the same time, an arbitrary third-trimester abortion

Related Essays

Anti-Choice & Amicus Curiae Briefs .... rights bills are introduced in the US Congress and .... a feature of much subsequent abortion debate--focusing .... as well as the apparent inconsistencies between Texas .... (3789 15 )

WEBSTER v. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES .... Wade and in Coloutti v. Franklin, 439 US 379, 388 .... this case suffered in places from logical inconsistencies and the .... the decision by a woman to seek an abortion. .... (4046 16 )

Anti-Choice Rhetoric & Amicus Curiae Briefs .... decisions) and (above all) to the US Constitution, consistent .... Other logical inconsistencies are evident as well. .... of the mother's preference for abortion vis- .... (4142 17 )

Ethical Considerations in Healthcare .... is sometimes contains legal, ethical and moral inconsistencies. .... health care plans without abortion coverage is .... US Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in .... (2458 10 )

Public Opinion & Legalization of Marijuana .... of public health policy in the US. .... substance abuse policies, the inconsistencies of which .... Premature delivery, spontaneous abortion, and stillbirth risks are .... (9996 40 )

Category: Government - A