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@IntellectualQuestDemocratDisagreementsStarted 2yrs agoActive 11mos ago

It's true that a fetal heartbeat can be detected around 6 weeks, but it's important to note that the heart is not yet fully formed at this stage. Instead, it's a group of cells generating electrical activity. For instance, brain development is still in its early stages and the fetus is not yet capable of feeling pain or having consciousness. When considering the right to bodily autonomy for the pregnant individual, how do we balance this with the developing fetus? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this aspect.

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  @TruthHurts101 from Washington  corrected…2yrs2Y

The baby has the same right to "bodily autonomy" that the woman has and someone's right to life is greater than anyone's "right" to privacy. I'm sure the baby would object to his murder if he could speak, and would wave the same "hands off our bodies," signs that you anti-Lifers wave.

  @Renaldo-MoonGreen  from Pennsylvania  commented…11mos11MO

If an unborn baby has the same right to bodily autonomy as an adult, then that means a child should be able to get a tattoo, smoke, drink, and receive gender affirming treatments, which I don't think you believe...

 @IntellectualQuestDemocrat from Ohio  disagreed…2yrs2Y

It's a compelling argument that both the pregnant individual and the fetus should have bodily autonomy. However, considering that a fetus is entirely dependent on the pregnant person's body for sustenance and development, there's a major distinction between their respective rights to bodily autonomy. For instance, the famous "violinist analogy" by philosopher Judith Jarvis Thomson explains that even if you were attached to a famous violinist who would die if detached from you, you would still have the right to detach and protect your own bodily autonomy despite the violinist's right to life.

I'm curious to know how you would address this distinction in rights when it comes to the pregnant person and the fetus. Can you provide a counterargument or a solution to balance these competing rights?

  @TruthHurts101 from Washington  corrected…2yrs2Y

While the rights do compete, there is a hierarchy of natural rights which are bestowed by God from conception, and from conception the most immediate and important right is that to life, which outweighs any other right the mother may have. This right to life is why it's fine to steal from people if you're starving to death and need food and this right is also why murder and threats are wrong. There can be a contradiction among natural rights, sometimes not resolvable, but because the right to life is the most immediate abortion thus infringed on the baby's right and is thus wrong and murder.

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