Terri Schiavo a mirror to the abortion debate

[bspence]

I know this is a controversial point, but here goes:

When hearing the evidence on both sides as to whether or not Terri Schiavo is alive, I keep thinking how this parallels the abortion debate. When is a body alive?

Doctors on the right say that her eyes are moving, her lips are moving, her body is moving, so therefore, that is evidence that her 'soul' is in there. That she has sentience. Doctors on the left say that these movements are just basic low level brain functions that may give you the appearance of life, but in actuallity, her brain is nearly completely destroyed.

To shift this into the abortion issue, a fetus also moves, wiggles its fingers and toes, and reacts to stimulae. It appears to be alive, but the higher functions of the brain haven't developed yet.

And that right there is the difference between pro-choice and anti-abortionists. Are we taking the life of a sentient life, or are we stopping a body from possibly becoming sentient life?

My personal view is that when doctors say that the higher level parts of Terri's brain have actually liquefied, then I'm confident in saying she's dead right now. You can put electrodes to a frog's legs and see them move, that doesn't mean they're alive. We're basically doing the same thing for Terri. She passed on a long time ago, despite the movements of her body.

Abortion is actually a more complex issue, because at some point a baby's brain isn't anything more than a collection of cells sending signals to the body that make it appear alive. We just don't know when that point is.

Anybody else get notice the parallels in this debate?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Her SOUL??? Sorry, you will not find a serious doctor or neurologist

that will claim to know where the "soul" is, when it's gone, or if there even is such a thing.

[bspence]

2. That's why it was in quotes ('soul')

I was using the language of the right to lifers

[BlueEyedSon]

3. right-o.... sorry.

[wolfgirl]

4. I agree and I

believe that is part of what all this nightmare has been about. If you get people to side with the one, then you negate the argument for the other - All while distorting and lying about the actual facts.

And I'll say it again, Bush & Co will use all of this to bash judges they want to replace.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Absolutely, it's the very same argument. 'Pro-lifers' will tell you

that even the smallest embryo can feel the pain of abortion and smile, move, and react. While medical scientists will say that it has no cerebral cortex and therefore cannot feel anything.