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Does the Definition of Human Life Stop Abortion Being Murder

For different groups/people, abortion would or would not be seen as murder according to how they define life. The view of human life from the perspective of Catholics would be that life starts, and instrument happens at conception. Therefore the fetus is a separate life, so any deliberate elimination of the fetus would be classed as murder. Humanists would disagree with this view since they believe that the fetus is not a separate life until after birth.

Therefore to abort the fetus would not be seen as murder. Feminist Humanists hold the same view on abortion, considering that until birth the fetus is a ‘growth’ inside the mother. The view that the fetus is merely a ‘growth’ in the mother could however be argued against on medical grounds. At the abortion limit of 24 weeks a fetus has viability with a 50-75% chance of surviving, only 4 weeks later these rates would rise to a 75-80% chance of survival.

At these viability points the fetus can clearly be defined as a separate individual. As well as this, at 8-12 weeks old the central nervous system (CONS) of the fetus is developed to the stage of consciousness and self-awareness. This could also count the fetus as a separate individual because it would now be able to feel. Since both the arguments concerning viability and consciousness can count the fetus as a separate individual, to abort it would be seen as murder.

Despite the fact that the CONS of a fetus Is developed to consciousness at 8-12 weeks, at any time before 19 weeks a fetus cannot survive alone, which could classify It as not being a separate life. This view would not count abortion as murder. The stage where the fetus has a developed CONS at 8-12 weeks Is a similar age to when Muslims believe that the Our enters the body, at between 45 and 90 days. Abortion Is seen as murder In Islam, although It can also be seen as being self-defense in tuitions where the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother.

One of the biggest defining factors of whether people believe that abortion Is murder or not, Is their personal view of when or If the fetus Is classed as a separate life. In the view of Humanists, their definition of human life Is that the fetus Is not a separate being. This would stop abortion from being murder. However, from the viewpoints of many religions or people who make their defenseless based on medical reasons such as viability or the development of the CONS, abortion would be seen as murder.

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