Question My cousin recently gave birth to her first child. There were some complications, however, and the baby had to be delivered through a cesarean section four weeks early. At first she seemed healthy, but within seconds of the delivery the effort of crying was apparently too much for the premature baby and they had to put her on a special machine. Now, what interested me about K. (that’s her first name,) is that even though she was working her way to be two months early she still seems completely human. K. even smiled and giggled whenever they played with her. As far as I can tell she’s completely human. She laughs, cries, reacts to pain, even seems to have formed a bond with her mother who she’s only seen a few times. Recently there was a great outcry because late term abortion doctor George Tiller was assassinated by pro-life extremists. (Doesn’t that seem ironic?) Anyway, he apparently aborted fetuses within days of the delivery date. 32, 33, 34 week old fetuses. Now, what caught me about this is that K. isn’t even as old as some of these fetuses he’s killing. So, if he were killing premature baby is like K., that’d be essentially the same thing. Early term abortion can be understood, but honestly it seems to me that this man did a terrible thing as worthy of death as anything else, more than once. He was continuing to do so unchecked until he was assassinated. I don’t agree with civilians taking justice into their own hands, but how can people feel so urged to defend this man when these very same people would be praising the killer if the abortion ‘doctor,’ instead took the life of Kimberly-Prudence? How can any modern or progressive individual possible support late term abortion or disagree that somebody murdering a fully developed child is anything other than evil?

Accepted:
July 27, 2009

Comments

There are a few points that may be relevant to your thinking:

1) There is a substantial difference between 32 weeks and 36 weeks in terms of development, long term prognosis, etc. It is also uncommon for a newborn to be as responsive to social cues as you suggest. Typically "social smiling" doesn't occur until a full term baby is four to six weeks old. It is a mistake, I think, to generalize even about healthy fetuses from the vivid example you've just witnessed.

2) The cases of abortion Tiller performed were typically cases in which the fetus or mother faced significant medical complications. Would you feel differently if your cousin (once removed) was born to live with a disability that would cause constant and untreatable pain? How would you feel if your cousin's life was in danger, or if she faced a permanent and profound disability if she continued her pregnancy? Are there no cases in which you can imagine a late term pregnancy justifiably terminated?

3) It might be interesting to read some of the statements by physicians who provide abortions at Physicians for Reproductive Health and Choice: http://prhc.org, or some of the comments on the memorial page for Dr. Tiller linked to that site.