> As for me, I'm for animal rights, but I'm a lot more concerned about
> what's done to higher animals such as the great apes and pigs...and
> cows...etc, than I am about animals that have little ability to
> think and feel. And since I don't believe there's a human soul,
> a human foetus - at least in the earliest stage - is like an amoeba.
> And so while it IS killing, and it probably shouldn't be done
> thoughtlessly, I don't lose sleep over it, I don't see it as the same as
> a pig being led to slaughter.
i had a similar viewpoint until i saw the video on this website. http://www.silentscream.org
here are some excerpts from the transcript of the video which i have copied and pasted:
"this little person at twelve weeks is a fully formed, absolutely, identifiable human being."
"He has had brain waves for at least six weeks. His heart has been functioning for perhaps eight weeks. And all the rest of his human functions are indistinguishable from any of ours."
"The instrument then will come into direct contact with the child and with a pressure of approximately 55 or so millimeters of mercury, applied to the end of this instrument as it is attached to a long, thick suction tubing at this end and to the abortion instrumentation, that is the machine, at the other end, the suction suction tip will then begin to tear the child apart."
"The pieces of the body are torn away. One by one until finally all that remains are the shards of the body and the heads itself. The head will be too large to come through this instrument itself. This will necessitate the introduction of this instrument called a polyp forceps into the uterus through the already dilated cervix and the abortionist will then attempt to grasp the free floating head of the child in the uterus between the rings of this instrument. The head is then crushed, the contents of the head removed, and finally the bones of the head, and the abortion is then effectively at an end."
(while watching the abortion filmed via ultrasound) "we see the heart beating, here in the child's chest, The heart is beating at the rate of approximately 140 beats a minute. And we can see the child moving rather serenely, in the uterus. One can see it shifting position from time to time. It is still orientated in this manner and the mouth is receiving the thumb of the child. The child again is moving quietly in its sanctuary."
"Now this shadow that we are seeing, down at the bottom of the screen is the suction tip. We have colored the suction tip deliberately in order that you can discern it more clearly. The abortionist has now dilated the cervix and is now inserting this suction tip which you can see moving back and forth across the screen. You will note as the suction tip which is now over here, moves towards the child, the child will rear away from it and undergo much more violent and much more agitated movements. The child will move in a much more purposeful manner. Its orientation changes from to time. It is again rearing here. Now the suction tip has not actually touched the child, even though the child is extremely agitated and moving in a much more violent manner."
"The child has now moved back to the profile view and the suction tip is flashing across the screen. The child's mouth is now open... and we will see that in a freeze frame in a moment... but this suction tip which you can see moving violently back and forth on the bottom of the screen is the lethal instrument which will ultimately tear apart and destroy the child. It is only after the fluid has been broken, the sack has been disrupted, that the tip will actually come against the child. We can see the tip move back and forth as the abortionist seeks the child's body. Once again we can see the child's wide mouth open in a Silent Scream in this particular freeze frame. This is the silent scream of a child threatened eminently with extinction."
"Now the child's heart rate has speeded up dramatically. And the child's movements are violent at this point.It does sense aggression in its sanctuary. It is moving away ...one can see it moving to the left side of the uterus...in an attempt ... a pathetic attempt to escape the inextricable instruments which the abortionist is using to extinguish its life."
"Now the heart has again perceptibly speeded up. We can time this at approximately 200 beats per minute. There is no question that this child now senses the most mortal danger imaginable. The membrane has now has been punctured and the fluid has escaped. One no longer sees that large reservoir of fluid surrounding the child. But once the fluid, has been drained off, the suction tip has been firmly clapped to the child's body and the child is being pulled in a downward direction by the abortionist's suction tip with the negative pressure applied to it. And the body is being torn systematically from the head."
http://www.silentscream.org