When the dust settles and the debate stops and the latest polarization of the nation passes, where will the nation be. Will we finally settle the moral question of "When Does Human Life Begin?"
Roe versus Wade is forty-six years old. It might be one of the oldest laws on the books based on a state of science and technology that has never been updated or changed for nearly fifty years. In order to legalize abortion there had to be a determination of when life began. That was a key component of the case.
The problem in 1973 was no one knew when life began and determining the moment life begins, at least in the eyes of the courts, was a matter of science and technology. That is what Roe versus Wade did nearly 50 years ago. Science has now proven the definition is obsolete.
Science and Technology
Think about it, the advances in science and technology have been monumental since 1973. In 1973, the year Roe versus Wade was decided, technology saw the first cell (mobile) phone demonstrated for commercial use. During the next 46 years we have seen this bulky beast morph into today's smart phone which has the processing power of large computers from the seventies. Yet the science behind Roe versus Wade never changed.
Personal computers did not exist in 1973 and look where they are today. In virtually every field of science and technology there has been lightning change, with products often going to market about the same time they were becoming obsolete.
The digital revolution was just beginning and it brought change never experienced before in our history. Yet Roe versus Wade remained trapped in time and never changed. In 1976 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs launched the Apple personal computer. By 1980 Sony introduced the Walkman.
The first Space Shuttle was launched in 1981, the same year laser eye surgery was developed. In 1982 quantum dots were discovered. Compact discs (CDs) arrived in 1983. By 1989 the worldwide web was invented, yet Roe versus Wade technology was still stuck in a time warp.
In the first two decades of the twenty-first century the change has become even greater in all aspects of our lives as the digital revolution took control. Yet through it all the Roe versus Wade technology has remained frozen at the 1973 level.
It is hard to believe there has been no update to Roe versus Wade medical science and technology since the time we were just beginning to end the Vietnam war. That is an insult to technology and a denial of truth to the people of America.
What is the record of the Abortion exceptions in Roe versus Wade?
Science and Technology
Think about it, the advances in science and technology have been monumental since 1973. In 1973, the year Roe versus Wade was decided, technology saw the first cell (mobile) phone demonstrated for commercial use. During the next 46 years we have seen this bulky beast morph into today's smart phone which has the processing power of large computers from the seventies. Yet the science behind Roe versus Wade never changed.
Personal computers did not exist in 1973 and look where they are today. In virtually every field of science and technology there has been lightning change, with products often going to market about the same time they were becoming obsolete.
The digital revolution was just beginning and it brought change never experienced before in our history. Yet Roe versus Wade remained trapped in time and never changed. In 1976 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs launched the Apple personal computer. By 1980 Sony introduced the Walkman.
The first Space Shuttle was launched in 1981, the same year laser eye surgery was developed. In 1982 quantum dots were discovered. Compact discs (CDs) arrived in 1983. By 1989 the worldwide web was invented, yet Roe versus Wade technology was still stuck in a time warp.
In the first two decades of the twenty-first century the change has become even greater in all aspects of our lives as the digital revolution took control. Yet through it all the Roe versus Wade technology has remained frozen at the 1973 level.
It is hard to believe there has been no update to Roe versus Wade medical science and technology since the time we were just beginning to end the Vietnam war. That is an insult to technology and a denial of truth to the people of America.
What is the record of the Abortion exceptions in Roe versus Wade?
Advocates claimed abortion was needed in three cases, rape or incest, a threat to the health of the baby, or a threat to the health of the mother. History has proven them wrong. Multiple studies performed with the advantage of actual statistics show only 1% of all abortions resulted from rape or incest, just 2% resulted because of the health of the baby, and 2% resulted from the threat to the health of the mother. In other words the three major causes for passing Roe versus Wade actually represented no more than 5% of the total abortions performed.
Based on the claims in the debate over Roe versus Wade we should not even have a law since so few abortions performed meet the primary needs used to justify the law. However, there is another reason to reconsider the language of the law besides 60 million deaths and no justification for the law, that is what the law did do in the first place.
When does life begin with today's technology?
Roe versus Wade was a ruling by the Supreme Court that centrally held that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable'". The Court defined viable as being potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid. In 1973 viability usually occurred at about seven months (28 weeks) but might occur earlier, even at 24 weeks. Medical breakthroughs since the ruling and prenatal advances have demonstrated that the ability of the fetus to live outside the mother's womb can come at a much earlier time.
James Elgin Gill
The record for the world's most premature baby is shared by
James Elgin Gill, a Canadian man born at just 21 weeks 5 days in 1988. James
was born so early that he was expected to die at birth or, if he survived, to
have multiple and severe handicaps. James beat all of the odds, growing to be a
healthy teenager was known to be heading off to college at the typical age.
Amilia Taylor
American baby Amilia Taylor was born at 21 weeks 6 days in
October of 2006. Because Amilia was conceived by in vitro fertilization, her
gestational age can be pinpointed exactly, an impossibility for most infants.
Although she needed oxygen at hospital discharge, was anemic, and has mild
osteopenia she is otherwise a normal, healthy girl.
The successful birth of these two premature babies is living
proof of the need to update Roe versus Wade and the 28 week limit. They
are living proof that Roe versus Wade is scientifically wrong, a baby can now
survive at 21 weeks, not 28 weeks.
Clearly the language of the law is flawed, so what should it
be? Here is the test for all pro-abortion groups who claim they really aren't
advocating taking lives. If you are sincere in wanting to
protect human lives while pursuing an abortion option, then you should have no
problem accepting the newest scientific evidence of when life begins.
Scientific Proof of Life versus Death
There is one medical test widely accepted and upheld by the courts to establish that a human is legally alive or dead. All 50 states have used this test for over 30 years.
The Uniform Determination of Death Act, promulgated in 1980 and supported by the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, has served as a model statute for the adoption of state legislation that defines death. The act asserts: “An individual, who has sustained either irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.”
Since brain activity is the legal measure for the cessation of life, then it must also be the legally accepted measure of the beginning of life. A fetus becomes a living baby when brain activity can be first measured. According to established science with the use of an electroencephalogram, or EEG, activity in the brain can be detected as early as six weeks gestational age (6). Whether brain activity begins at this time or started earlier but becomes detectable at this time is uncertain; it is known that neural connections begin forming as soon as neurons begin forming, as early as 14 days gestation.
As science improves, the brain wave activity will consistently be detected some time between 14 days and six weeks. All hospitals are equipped with EEG machines and they could be adapted to complete these tests for pregnant women.
Roe versus Wade Needs a Scientific Overhaul
Roe versus Wade, adopted nearly four decades ago, is medically and scientifically obsolete in the determination that life begins at 28 weeks. Responsible members of Congress and the White House should advocate, in the interest of scientific accuracy, a change in the law to reflect the latest scientific advances. With nearly 55 million abortions already performed, do we really want to keep terminating the lives of babies we know are living beings?
Abortion is not a matter of pro choice when the baby being aborted is a living, human being in the eyes of science. Pro Life and Pro Choice advocates should join in seeking this correction of a flawed law and the Trump Administration and Congress should make it the law of the land.
Implementing the New Scientific Findings
In the end this could be the easiest huge policy change regarding a volatile social issue in history. It would not appear to require any action by Congress or the President. Since the courts have recognized The Uniform Determination of Death Act as the national standard for scientifically proving death over life, then the same standard and same tests, can determine when the fetus becomes a "human" life or person, when life begins according to science and the courts.
Most governors or state attorney generals could find a way to incorporate the missing language from Roe versus Wade, the lack of a court tested determination of the difference between life and death, through executive order or the many remedies used in the judicial process.
Another option to clarify this issue would be for a legislature to amend whatever their determination of death law to use it as a determination of life or death. There are many avenues open to those who really want to end the debate and protect those children who are not protected under the current flawed laws.
Get your governor or state attorney general to act and act now and this debate can be brought to a close. We will have a scientific determination of when life begins and ends, and we will stop using abortion as just another form birth control to terminate unwanted pregnancies.
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| Gianna Jessen — Abortion Survivor |
God is using Gianna to remind the world that each human being
is precious to Him. It is beautiful to see the strength of the love of Jesus,
which he has poured into her heart. My prayer for Gianna, and for all who
listen to her, is that this message of God’s love will put an end to abortion
with the power of love.
Mother Teresa
Most of all, we will all agree on life.
The Dark Side of Abortion in the world of wealth and technology of today.
One other aspect of life that has changed dramatically since the passage of Roe versus Wade is the tremendous concentration of wealth in the hands of so few. Billionaires are now the measure of success, yet another tribute to technology advances, where once it was millionaires.
Money in and of itself can be bad or good depending on the intent of the owner, but if these billions are in the hands of a few unscrupulous, greedy, power hungry or paranoid people it is only natural they would pursue the extension of their lives, or the cloning of replacements for themselves.
Technology has also created a new field of biological modification, through the Human Genome program and others, that are shattering all efforts to restrict the use of human body parts for replacement organs, or biological work to master human cloning.
Already a massive Black market for human parts and organs has become a thriving black market business, but with the availability of the aborted fetus, it is also poised to become very lucrative practice for many years to come. Money talks.
The world market and demand for body parts.
