Abortion should be restricted only after viability, which generally occurs no earlier than 20-weeks gestation.
- Viability is not a logical criterion for abortion. A preborn baby is an individual and a human being, regardless of viability. Furthermore, nonviability is a transient state. Why should the fact that a preborn baby is not yet capable of ex utero life be a reason for abortion? If anything, nonviability is a compelling reason against abortion, because a baby so young does not yet possess even a fighting chance to survive outside of its natural habitat, the womb. Protection should be given to those who need it most.
- Viable is defined as: capable of living; especially born alive with such form and development of organs as to be normally capable of living (Webster’s Seventh Ed. New World Dictionary). If the more liberal “capable of living” definition is used, a preborn baby is certainly viable. In fact, the preborn baby, prior to 20 weeks gestation, loses its viability only when forcibly and prematurely removed from its mother’s womb (nature may naturally abort the truly nonviable).
- The mother’s womb is the natural environment for a human being in his or her first nine months of life. If a land-dwelling mammal were put into water, it would not be viable. If a fish were put on dry land, it would not be viable. Also, as a class, human beings are nonviable relative to the ex-utero environment, yet only for the first five months of life. Thus, for the young preborn, viability is lost only after an abortion; if the procedure itself does not kill, removal from the natural environment does.
- If the more conservative definition of viability is used, a very young human being may not be viable, at least with current technology. However, born and aborted are not synonymous. If a baby is born nonviable, its death will be by natural causes. If a baby survives an abortion yet is nonviable, its impending death cannot be described as natural. The abortion has simply placed the baby into an environment in which it cannot yet survive (provided the baby survives the procedure).
- Adopting the viability criteria simply means the following: the first five months of pregnancy represent “open season” on babies. Thus, a murderous time clock is established: “Kill your ‘fetus’ (preborn child) now, before it’s too late.”
- The newborn is still dependent upon its mother or primary caregiver. Though biologically viable, the newborn will not possess true, autonomous viability for many years.
- “Viability” can also be lost, due to disease, trauma, age, etc. Can a human being on an artificial respirator still be considered viable? If not, can he be killed? Thus, in principle, a viability criterion removes protection from those who need it most: the weak, the powerless, the dependent.
- A newly created preborn baby will attain viability naturally, perhaps within 20-weeks, if not killed first.
- This is not a true pro-abortion argument/position-the pro-abortionist will never really accept anything less than abortion-on-demand. However, such an argument may be made with the objective of painting the pro-lifer as an extremist for opposing all abortions.