what's the worth of a human life?

:D

As far as any of us know, it is all we have. As such, it cannot be calculated how wrong it is to take one's life away.

That's why I oppose abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and unjust wars...

;) I disagree with you on two of those, but c'est la vie.

I wouldn't use the strong arm of the law to prevent someone from having an abortion or euthanizing himself or herself but that's not the counsel I would give...

That's a pretty significant clarification.

I realize that the debate is nuanced with a lot of texture but I can see the point of those who truly believe in a culture of life and oppose anything that takes it for any reason...

You have to wrestle with problems like when does life begin, when does life end, is it worth carrying to term a baby that will be horribly deformed, is it worth prolonging the life of a person where there is no quality of life, et cetera?


In the age of sonograms and artificial life extending procedures I think we as a society need to have that conversation

Perspective, too - I don't "enjoy" the idea of abortion, but it isn't about me.

I'm all for conversation, though.

The vast majority of unwanted pregnancies can be avoided... We have condoms...We have birth control pills...We have the withdrawl method which is marginally effective ... A person can use all three; simultaneously if he or she wants to...As someone who is personally opposed to abortion I would like to ask folks on the right to abandon their opposition to birth control and family planning ... Pregnancy shouldn't be seen as a punishment...

I think Bill Clinton had it right when he said abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare."

I'm not sure we ever completely get rid of unplanned pregnancies. And given that the folks on the right aren't about to give up their opposition to birth control, I don't think we get to unilaterally disarm, as it were, and abandon reproductive rights.

Which I know you're not advocating...:)

A prohibition of abortion would be punative, impractical, impossible to enforce, and arbitrary and capricious in its application ...

I think a rational person would trade more birth control for less abortions; even a rational person with strong religious convictions ...

They (have to) realize they are never going to eliminate abortion... Then the goal is to make it unnecessary or largely unnecessary ...

say they are "pro life" yet they support capital punishment and war.....either you support life or you don't, in my book....however heinous the crime, taking that person's life in retribution or retaliation will not undo the crime committed. AND, with DNA, how often are we seeing in the news that ppl on death row are being exonerated, years after imprisonment?

many people against the capital punishment but not abortion - though, i know it's not that simple.

What does this have to do with Presidential politics? Methinks this isn't the appropriate forum for this discussion...

:shrug:

children or the elderly are morally "inferior" to law-abiding citizens, and should be treated as such.

What of those who would say that abortion is "killing innocents and doing harm to children"? What of those who would extend the idea that "moral turpitude" is worthy of death to homosexuality?

in itself. It usually has value for the human being in question, though. I'm not against euthanasia partly because human life can have disvalue for the human being who has the life. A encephalitic human being may be alive, but it's life has no value for it.

Of course, this invites the answer "Not much".

This is always a slippery slope for us Democrats

The DP topics this morning were the immediate cause and what I had in mind to talk about, although I knew it was likely to bring up abortion as well.

Full disclosure: I am pro-choice (was a volunteer clinic escort for a while) and anti-death penalty in all cases.

Any input on the OP question? :)

I feel for the child and the family but only the taking of life can result in the loss of life.

my first long-winded and personal post... please, bear with me

this is a question that has basically formed my life. growing up in a very liberal, catholic (yes, the two can go together) family, the sanctity of human life was forefront: we were pacifists, against the death penalty, believed it a matter of faith and basic human dignity to clothe, feed, and advocate for the living poor, and fought for almost any social justice cause. i debated against the death penalty with my peers and protested US policies in latin america and then the first iraq war as a teenager. eventually, i ended up going abroad and working with missionaries before coming home and joining a convent (which i eventually left).

with the missionaries, i was blessed with the opportunity to take care of women at a hospice (a home for the dying), and i can tell you this, in the last moments of these women's lives, as they were dying and gasping their last breaths, i knew for certain that their lives were worth everything! it didn't matter who she was before - she could have been a serial murderer for all i knew - her life was the most precious ever. for each woman it was the same - even this one mean older lady i didn't really like who always cursed us and hit us. i was with her when she died and i grieved her loss as much as any of the other women who had died there.

i am now a scientist and work with animals. over the years, i have been present for many euthanasias, and every time, i have the same feeling - that each life, human and non-human, is precious and has value beyond measure. that doesn't mean that i'm against ending suffering through euthanasia, or eating meat, or even using animals for research (a whole other debate), but i think, for me to be honest with myself in situations when i get really worked up about bad, bad people, i need to look back and remember those women. i had know clue who they were, i just held their hands while they died - and each life was a miracle and each life mattered in the greater scheme of things somehow.

And welcome to DU!