The loss of happy life for the first infant is outweighed by the gain of a happier life for the second. Singer suggests that individual human worth is based on its usefulness to others: вЂњWhen the death of a disabled infant will lead to the birth of another infant with better prospects of a happy life, the total amount of happiness will be greater if the disabled infant is killed. Singer says, вЂњIf we compare a severely defective human infant with a nonhuman animal, a dog or a pig, for example, we will often find the nonhuman to have superior capacities, both actual and potential, for rationality, self-consciousness, communication and anything else that can plausibly be considered morally significant.вЂќ* A living child who wouldвЂ™ve had a name, family, and life will now have none of these. Yet pro-choice advocates adamantly defend such abortions.Д«ut are earlier abortions any better than later ones? Even in the case of early chemical abortions, which take life before thereвЂ™s capacity for thought, death is just as real and significant. By the end of the second trimester the вЂњbrainвЂ™s neural circuits are as advanced as a newbornвЂ™s.вЂќ* It seems unthinkable that anyone aware of the facts could defend the current legality of abortions in the second and third trimesters. Undoubtedly, later abortions kill a sentient, thinking human being. At seventeen weeks, the child experiences Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, indicating that heвЂ™s not only sleeping but dreaming.* Can we say that someone capable of dreaming is incapable of thinking? вЂњThe fetus also responds to sounds in frequencies so high or low that they cannot be heard by the human adult ear.вЂќ* He hears loud music and covers his ears at loud noises from the outside world. Newsweek states, вЂњLife in the womb represents the next frontier for studies of human development, and the early explorations of the frontier.have yielded startling discoveries.вЂќ* The article says, вЂњWith no hype at all, the fetus can rightly be called a marvel of cognition, consciousness and sentience.вЂќ It also says that scientists have already detected sentience (self-awareness) in the second trimester.* The extraordinary capacities of preborn children have been well documented by scientific studies for years.*Д«y early in the second trimester the baby moves his hands to shield his eyes from bright light coming in through his motherвЂ™s body. The Associated Press reported a study showing вЂњbabies start learning about their language-to-be before they are born.вЂќ Studies show that while in their mothersвЂ™ wombs, вЂњfetuses heard, perceived, listened and learned something about the acoustic structure of American English.вЂќ* What constitutes вЂњmeaningfulвЂќ life? ItвЂ™s a scientific fact that there are thought processes at work in unborn babies. According to the Bible, this is part of being created in GodвЂ™s image. Personhood isnвЂ™t something to be bestowed on human beings by Ivy League professors intent on ridding society of вЂњundesirables.вЂќ Personhood has an inherent value that comes from being a member of the human race.

Now big people have decided that little people arenвЂ™t meaningful enough to have rights. Nazis decided JewsвЂ™ lives werenвЂ™t meaningful. Whites decided that blacks were less human. But meaningful to whom? DoesnвЂ™t every human being regard as meaningful the life he had in the womb, since if it had been terminated, he would not now be alive?

Wade decision the Supreme Court questioned whether the unborn had вЂњmeaningfulвЂќ lives. I believe, for a baby, life begins when his mother wants him.вЂќ* So a human life becomes real and meaningful when another person wants it to be? Peter Singer, the Princeton ethics professor, wrote, вЂњThe life of a fetus is of no greater value than the life of a nonhuman animal at a similar level of rationality, self-consciousness, awareness, capacity to feel, etc.вЂќ* (Parents paying for their children to attend SingerвЂ™s classes might want to consider that he also believes thereвЂ™s moral justification for killing the elderly.)ДЄ Portland, Oregon, abortionist, Jim Newhall, said, вЂњNot everybody is meant to be born. William Harrison, a pro-choice advocate, argues, вЂњThe real issue in the abortion debate today is not when life begins, but is it morally meaningful life.вЂќ*Д«ut who determines which lives are meaningful and which arenвЂ™t? The answer, always, is that powerful people decide whether weaker peopleвЂ™s lives are meaningful. Please Note: In order to conserve space, footnotes are not included in this article but are marked with an asterisk and may be found in Why ProLife? by Randy Alcorn, Chapter 7, pages 48-53.Дr.

When does a fetus gain sentience