quote:
Originally posted by Ghislaine:
[b]Once a fetus is viable outside of the womb and can survive on its own - ie around 20 weeks now - it should be removed whenever the mother chooses, but kept alive. I really cannot see the justification for killing it if it can survive on its own.[/b]
20-week fetuses cannot "survive on their own" without massive medical intervention and artificial life support, any more than you can survive on your own after your heart stops beating or your brain waves flatline.
My point is that if you want to adopt "survival on one's own" as some sort of criterion, you will have to a) explain why that should be the criterion and b) define what you mean by survival on one's own.
You will also have to figure out how to determine the exact age of the fetus in order to decide whether to keep it on life support or not. "Around 20 weeks" is not nearly accurate enough for the kind of life-or-death decisions you want to make, and for which medical malpractice insurers will have to adjust their premiums accordingly.