Register | Sign In


Understanding through Discussion


EvC Forum active members: 65 (9162 total)
7 online now:
Newest Member: popoi
Post Volume: Total: 915,815 Year: 3,072/9,624 Month: 917/1,588 Week: 100/223 Day: 11/17 Hour: 0/0


Thread  Details

Email This Thread
Newer Topic | Older Topic
  
Author Topic:   Legal Death, Legal Life
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 12 of 40 (451239)
01-26-2008 9:28 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by RAZD
01-16-2008 10:14 PM


Re: Purpose #1: define human life
quote:
UNIFORM DETERMINATION OF LIFE
1. [Determination of Life.] An individual who has sustained either:
(1) irreversible instigation of circulatory and respiratory functions, and
(2) irreversible instigation of any functions of the (entire) brain, including the brain stem, is alive.
A determination of life should be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.
"uniform life" to be the earliest possible point at which assisted premature birth would be medically feasible without causing significant effect on the end result.
So does this mean that late-term abortions should be outlawed, or at least considered?

“There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the 'wisdom' of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious" -C.S. Lewis

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by RAZD, posted 01-16-2008 10:14 PM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 13 by molbiogirl, posted 01-26-2008 9:51 PM Hyroglyphx has replied
 Message 14 by RAZD, posted 01-26-2008 10:28 PM Hyroglyphx has replied

  
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 15 of 40 (451253)
01-26-2008 10:37 PM
Reply to: Message 13 by molbiogirl
01-26-2008 9:51 PM


Re: Purpose #1: define human life
Oh, don't start, Juggs.
RAZD has a nice life/death definition thing here. Don't drag it down the abortion road. Tread lightly, remember?
I'm behaving. Since things are seldom black and white, I want to know how this will work in practical terms.
I agree that its a pretty good definition from a medical approach, as in clinical death.
I'm just curious to know if it can apply to determining life as well. And if so, wouldn't that preclude late-term abortions?

“There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the 'wisdom' of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious" -C.S. Lewis

This message is a reply to:
 Message 13 by molbiogirl, posted 01-26-2008 9:51 PM molbiogirl has not replied

  
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 16 of 40 (451256)
01-26-2008 10:51 PM
Reply to: Message 14 by RAZD
01-26-2008 10:28 PM


Re: Purpose #1: define human life
One of the problems with defining human life is where you draw the line
Whew! Ya think? If you took ten people in a room and asked them separately what they thought constituted life, you'd probably get ten different answers of varying degree.
The problem is like trying to define the precise wavelength where yellow becomes blue
I like the analogy.
The problem I had with this was that this is equivocating on the definition of life and reproduction for a population of organisms to applying it to only one individual. If you were going to do this properly you would need to wait until puberty and the actual ability to reproduce, and this means somewhere between 12 and 19 years old.
Agreed. Moreover, that might inadvertently assume that an infertile man or woman would not be classified as being human. Obviously that would be silly, but in legalese, every single angle in verbiage has to be present.
To my mind this is just as silly as saying life begins at conception because it misses reality (human life before puberty).
Okay, so if I'm understanding you, you are saying that there really is no clear line of demarcation on the level of individuals. That might mean that sonograms and MRI's would have to allow a medical doctor to make that determination. But is that going to work in legal-speak?
For instance, we all know well that some 19 year olds are more mature than some 21 year olds. Yet, the 21 year old is allowed to drink themselves in to a stupor if they were so inclined, where the 19 year old can't legally even take a sip. For the sake of clarity with a clear line of demarcation, the law states that you must be 21 to have an alcoholic beverage.
It doesn't take in to consideration the maturity level on an individualistic level because that would be painstakingly laborious to determine case-by-case. Are we going to run in to this same kind of problem when attempting to define life?

“There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the 'wisdom' of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious" -C.S. Lewis

This message is a reply to:
 Message 14 by RAZD, posted 01-26-2008 10:28 PM RAZD has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 17 by RAZD, posted 01-26-2008 11:07 PM Hyroglyphx has not replied

  
Newer Topic | Older Topic
Jump to:


Copyright 2001-2023 by EvC Forum, All Rights Reserved

™ Version 4.2
Innovative software from Qwixotic © 2024