Abortion access

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Efforts to Reduce the U.S. abortion rate:

What is human life; what is a human person?:

Many people regard both a human ovum and a spermatozoon to be alive. Both contain human DNA. Thus both are often considered to be forms of human life.

However, the current scientific definition of "life" is that an item must exhibit seven properties:

• homeostasis; seeking and maintaining "... a condition of balance or equilibrium within its internal environment, even when faced with external changes." ₁
• be composed of cells.
• undergo metabolism.
• able to grow.
• adapt to their environment.
• respond to stimuli.
• ability to reproduce.

Both a human ova and a spermatozoon meet the first six criteria for life, but neither can reproduce. That is, one ovum cannot become two ova; one spermatozoon cannot become two spermatozoa. Therefore, neither is regarded to be a form of life.

However, once process of conception is finisthed, then the resulting fertilized ovum -- called a zygote -- sometimes does split to become two zygotes. This is the process by which identical twins occur. So, strictly speaking, human life begins at conception, as is stated so often by the pro-life movement.

Similarly, there is also a general agreement that a newborn is both a human life and a human person. (Some aboriginal groups only regard personhood to be attained after birth at a public ritual when the newborn is given a name. They represent a small minority.)

There is a lack of consensus in North America about when -- between conception and childbirth -- human life becomes an actual human person who is entitled to legal rights including the right to life. This lack of consensus has led to a deep division in the U.S. and Canada between the pro-life and pro-choice movements.

• Most pro-lifers believe that the transition from human life to human person happens during the conception process.
  
  
• Pro-choicers generally believe that it happens later; when the embryonic heartbeat can be detected, or when the embryo loses its tail and begins to look human; or at quickening when the mother first feels the fetus move, or at about 22 weeks when the fetus is sometimes capable of living outside the womb, or at 24 weeks when the fetal brain's higher functions startup and the fetus becomes sentient and starts to be aware of its environment. The traditional Jewish position is that it personhood is fully attained only when the fetus has half-emerged from the mother’s body. Others suggest it happens when the fetus takes its first breath.

Unfortunately, many pro-lifers refer to both a zygote and a newborn as "human life," and equate the two terms "human life" and "human person." This makes communication and dialog difficult unless the people involved can first adopt a common vocabulary and set of definitions.

The abortion rate:

The main activities of the pro-life movement has concentrated on restricting abortion as much as is legally possible without violating the Roe v. Wade decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. At the same time, others in the movement are trying to oveturn Roe v. Wade via the court system. That ruling guaranteed the legality of abortion early in pregnancy. Meanwhile, the pro-choice movement focused their effort on making a woman's choice to have an abortion available throughout pregnancy.

About the year 2006, a new emphasis surfaced. It is a desire to minimize unwanted pregnancies and thus eliminate the need for many or most abortions. This is a goal that many pro-lifers and pro-choicers can enthusiastically embrace. Many countries in Europe have successfully lowered their rate to levels far lower than those in the U.S.  Unfortunately, the methods that they used may prove to be deeply offensive and unacceptable to many in the North American pro-life movement.

The 2008 presidential elections showed a clear difference between the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties:

	The Democratic party promised to increase abortion access, while attempting to reduce the number of abortions by introducing policies that would lower the number of unwanted pregnancies and by increasing support to pregnant women and mothers in need of help so that childbirth becomes a viable option for them to choose.
	The Republican party promised to attempt to reduce the number of abortions by making abortions less accessible.
	More details

Topics covered in this section:

	Reducing the abortion rate by: Reducing unwanted pregnancies: Part 1: Pro-life & pro-choice history. Difficulty of joint effort. Opposition to the use of contraception. Part 2: 2009: Effort in Colorado to reduce unwanted pregnancies which often result in abortions Part 3: 2012: Joint pro-life & pro-choice activity. St Louis Study & its implications for the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") Improved technology Encouraging pregnant couples to choose childbirth
	Should a person who wants to reduce the abortion rate vote Democrat or Republican?
	Essays donated by visitors to this web site: Angie Pratt: "Reducing the abortion rate via social programs & education" "Northstar:" A response to the above essay
	Comparing adolescent pregnancy and abortion rates in the U.S. and Europe
	Contraceptive methods Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
	Emergency contraception (EC) (a.k.a. the morning-after pill) Wal-Mart's initial refusal to stock this medication in the U.S. and Canada

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References used:

The following information source was used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlink is not necessarily still active today.

1. "homeostasis," Dictionary.com, at: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/homeostasis

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Portions originally published: 1997-JAN-20
Last updated 2017-JUL-03
Author: Bruce A Robinson

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