I hope whatever I did to turn you off of our last discussion does not dissuade you from talking to me now. If I offended you I appologize.
As I said before, I don't know when a baby beomes human in the sense of acquiring human rights; I simply use birth as a cut-off because (a) I believe that before birth the infant definitely does not have a consciousness, and (b) after birth there is a period where the doubts increase, and so birth is the safest point at which to make this cut-off.
I can see how this discussion could turn into a slippery slope but what is the measurable difference between the potential for consciousness right after birth and the day before? I realize that you are expressing your opinion and that it is based on a tentative notion of what you believe is right but to me it still seems rather arbitrary.
For me I would probably pick 20 weeks gestation as my "comfort" zone for the similar reasons you listed above. But again it would be only based on what I think and not anything concrete. I would pick 20 weeks because that is closer to when we are pretty sure the brain starts working.
I guess I would feel much better if we could identify some more specific and diagnostic means of making a determination. Birth seems "dangerously" arbitrary to me.
Of course, biblical creationists are committed to belief in God's written Word, the Bible, which forbids bearing false witness; --AIG (lest they forget)
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