An Amusing Paradox

Hi VFLers,

A contact at CareNet is wondering if you VFLers would be interested in giving out client cards for CareNet which describe their services along with their website url.  The idea is to carry a few cards with you when you go off-campus and then leave one or two on a table or bulletin board.  Please email me (include your cpo) if you are interested, so I can get the cards and distribution info to you.

And now here’s a paragraph from Scott Klusendorf’s book:

Secular liberals insist that abortion is a fundamental human right upon which the state should not infridge.  In reply, I once again ask, where did that right to an abortion come from?  In other words, is it a natural right that springs from our nature as human beings, or is it a positive (legal) right granted by government?  If the latter, the abortion-choice advocate cannot really complain that she is wronged if the estate does not permit her to abort.  As stated above, the same government that grants rights can take them away.  On the other hand, if the right to an abortion is a natural right – a right one has in virtue of being human – then the abortion-choice advocate had that right from the moment she came to be, that is, from conception!  Thus, we are left with this amusing paradox: According to the logic of many abortion-choice advocates, unborn women do not have the right to life but they do have a right to an abortion!  Absurd!  In short, secular liberals have difficulty telling us where rights come from or why anyone should have them.  As Hadley Arkes points out, they have talked themselves out of the very natural rights upon which their own freedoms are built.

The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture, Scott Klusendorf.  p. 63.

Take care.

In honor of President’s Day, here’s an argument from Abraham Lincoln against slavery with clear applicability to the abortion debate:

You say “A” is white and “B” is black.  It is color, then: the lighter having the right to enslave the darker?  Take care.  By this rule, you are a slave to the first man you meet with a fairer skin than you own.

You do not mean color exactly – You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and therefore have the right to enslave them?  Take care again: By this rule you are to be a slave to the first man you meet with an intellect superior to your own.

But you say it is a question of interest, and, if you can make it your interest, you have the right to enslave another.  Very well.  And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.

The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. 2 (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 222.

Tim Tebow’s Pro-Life Ad

It’s hard for me to believe the amount of fuss there was about those 30 seconds. The National Organization for Women deemed the theme Celebrate Family; Celebrate Life “extraordinarily offensive and demeaning.”  This seems to be further bleak evidence of the culture of death that surrounds us.  Somewhat encouraging is the poll that says that Americans, having not yet seen the ad, favored it by a 2-1 margin.  I’m curious to find out the general populace’s opinion having now seen the ad.

You can learn more about the Tebow family’s story here.

Here’s an article by a pro-choice journalist who says that the Tim Tebow ad isn’t intolerant; its critics are.

Development in Utero

Last week, I wrote a little about the embryo so I thought it would be fun this week to share some facts about the development of the baby in utero.  Feel free to add facts that you know in the comments section.

From the moment of conception, the single cell that forms (called a zygote) contains the genetic information for every detail of that new life – the gender, hair and eye color, fingerprints, etc.

By 21 days after fertilization, the baby’s heart (which is then about the size of a poppy seed) begins beating, and early signs of brain development are evident.

At 7 weeks, the baby is 1/3 of an inch long and is making its own blood.  A week later, it is half an inch long and has recognizable elbows and fingers.  Taste buds are forming on the tongue.

At ten weeks, the baby’s brain produces 250,000 new neurons every minute, and can make the baby’s muscles move voluntarily.

At eleven weeks, the baby is obviously recognizable as a human being with distinct body parts and major organ systems developed, though only 2 inches long.  At this point, the baby is known as a fetus, which is Latin for “young one.”

At fourteen weeks, the “young one” can suck his or her thumb.

According to some studies, the baby can feel pain at 18 weeks.

At 24 weeks, the baby ways about 1.5 pounds and can recognize the voice, breathing, and heartbeat of his or her mother.  Babies of this age mayexhibit rapid eye movement, an indication that they are dreaming.

A baby born at 28 weeks is capable of breathing air with the support of intensive care.  Some babies born at only 24 weeks of development have survived.

40 weeks is the due date. . . but only 4% of babies are born on the due date.