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capped and the mentally subnormal
whose lives can have far less poten–
tia! than that of the unborn child?
How strange that those who are so
conscious of personal rights in sorne
causes can allow no rights whatever
lo an unborn infant.
The Living Fetus
At this point it is necessary to dis–
pel the myth that the human fetus is
not human life.
At conception an embryo con–
tains the full potential of a human
being, even down to broad outlines
of personality - a complete living
blueprint. About 16 days after con–
ception, the heart begins beating,
and in a matter of weeks human
features are clearly recognizable -
from finger tips to toes. This is no
inanimate jelly to be scooped into a
bucket and thrown away.
From about lO weeks or even ear-
HUMAN
FETUS-
rawn or Person?
I
s
THE
human fetus really a per–
son or can it be treated as a
"pawn" - a mere object to be
kept or disposed of according to the
dictates of social conditions or per–
sonal coovenience?
Let us consider sorne of the more
up-to-date knowledge we have of fe–
tal life.
Ts
it merely a placid, depen–
dent. fragile vegetable developing
quietly in preparation for a life that
starts at birth? Nothing could be
funher fmm the truth.
lier, this developing fetus can re–
spond to pain. Yet it may ata later
date be legally sucked out of its pro–
tective chamber by a vacuum pump
through a narrow bore tube. fts
head, arms and legs will tear off.
Alternatively, the human fetus
could be pickled alive by having a
concentrated salt solution injected
around it. Or it may be removed
kicking, only to be instant ly
drowned. then incinerated. This, in
the words of Professor Ian Donald
of Glasgow University, is "traffick–
ing in human life."
Social abortion proponents resent
this type of factual exposé. They re–
act with petulance if oot venom to
any attempt to arouse emotion on
behalf of an unborn human. And
yet "emotions" of sympathy and
pity for the unwilling or inconven–
ienced mother are their stock-in–
trade. ls not the onus on parents to
straighten the knees and generally
eod up bottom-down (i.e., the
breech birth). This is no "inert pas–
senger."
lt
propels itself around tbe
womb by feet and legs; it can
change sides by an "elegant longitu–
d inal spiral roll" rotating head,
shoulders. spine and legs in that or–
der. Those who choose to líe in the
womb with neck, trunk and limbs
extended can often be seen to ex–
press the same position preference
in sleep after birth.
The human fetus can respond to
pressure and touch.
lt
will "purpose–
fully" seek to avoid the sustained
pressure of a microphone.
Jl
will react violently to needle
puncture and other similar distur–
bances and yet- absurdly - we are
not supposed to conclude that it
feels pain.
lt
drinks its own amniotic fluid
When " reaches about 8 to
1O
and derives nourishment from it.
It
weeks of agl:, the human fetus will even has a
taste preference
and can
be moving its tiny limbs. Later it be induced to drink more by sweet–
willuse this power to maneuver into ening the fluid with saccharin. The
the most comfortable position in the thumb-sucking habit begins early
uterus. Sorne will bend their knees too. l t has been photographed in a
and Rresent head first. Others will 9-week abortion.
30
plan their families and on people to
avoid promiscuity - rather than
shifting the penalty to the innocent
if they fail to do so?
A Meaningless Oath
As a member of the medica! pro–
fession , I have to ask what, today, is
the meaning of the Hippocratic
Oath, or the lnternational Code of
Medica! Ethics - presumably sub–
scribed to by those who ply the
abortion trade?
1
read, as one of the
tenets of the Declaration of Geneva,
drawn up by the World Medica! As–
sociation: "/
will
maintain the ut–
most respect Jor human lije from the
time of conception; even under
threat .
... "
How meaningless and how futile
are these idealistic words when
trodden underfoot by the thrust of
our money-loving, permissive so–
ciety!
o
Despite the restricted view, eye
tissues are developed early. Flash–
ing lights over the mother's abdo–
men can even cause detectable
heart-rate changes. The fetus can be
start/ed
by sudden noise. and at
least 25 weeks after conception (still
an abortion candidate), it has been
observed to jump in synchrony with
the sound emanating from a tim–
pani drum.
There is even sorne evidence that
a fetus has learning abi lity - though
this is notan area that lends itself to
study.
At birth the main thing that
changes is the environment.
lt
is
merely one more step in the transi–
tion from zygote
to
adult. Jf man
has the right to extinguish that life
in the early stages of the process,
who is to say he cannot do so at any
stage?
As Professor Sir William Liley
has said, "l s it too much to ask that
perhaps we should accord also to
foetaJ personality and behaviour,
rudimentary as they may appear by
adult standards, the same consid–
eration and respect?" D
PLAIN TRUTH August 1974