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[quote=Anonymous]As I mentioned in the prior thread:

[quote]Part of the disconnect here is a disagreement about why and when some life is more valuable than other life. The mere fact of life isn't inherently valued. We don't mind squashing bugs, for example. Most of us are meat eaters and don't killing pigs for our bacon.

So what is it about human life that makes it morally entitled to extra consideration? Is it because it has a soul? Obviously many of us don't believe in souls. Is it because humans are more intelligent and perceptive than other beings? If that's it, how does that affect how we treat a human in a permanent, vegetative state versus, say, a healthy, alert adult dog?

There are no definitive answers on a moral question like this. We're really asking what it means to be human. Is humanity simply a function of life plus the correct number of chromosomes? Is humanity simply a matter of biology or is there a biographical component? Opinions differ dramatically.

The Supreme Court in Roe tried to strike a balance. For the first 12 weeks, when the life in question is a blastocyst or an embryo, the life in question just isn't the same as a fully human and the rights of the fully human woman take priority.[/quote]

Non-Catholics, by and large, did not attach a lot of value to an embryo's life prior to the early 70s. It became a political issue mostly in reaction to the women's liberation movement.

In 1979, a conservative evangelical seminary professor wrote for publication in Billy Graham's "Christianity Today":

[quote]God does not regard the fetus as a soul, no matter how far gestation has progressed. The Law plainly exacts: “If a man kills any human life he will be put to death” (Lev. 24:17). But according to Exodus 21:22-24, the destruction of the fetus is not a capital offense. … Clearly, then, in contrast to the mother, the fetus is not reckoned as a soul.[/quote]

Fred Clark has a good article about the switch here: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/02/18/the-biblical-view-thats-younger-than-the-happy-meal/[/quote]

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