Questions

So, I was reading Molly Saves the Day and I got to her post Twenty Questions: Baby-killer edition in which she posts twenty questions aimed at the forced-birth contingent who’ve been posting “abortion is murder of little babies!” comments on her blog lately. I found the post very interesting, but thought some of the questions were a bit too… harsh? biased? I’m not sure what the right word is. Basically, some of them seemed like they were destined to put up the hackles of the forced-birth contingent readers.
I think for questions like these to work as discussion starters, they have to be genuine, honest, and not constructed to start an argument. I hereby offer my own twenty questions as an exercise in promoting discussion. The idea is to get people thinking about what extending human rights to the unborn could lead to.
The ones with *s are lifted from Molly’s with some adjustments.


*1) Should women who abort get life sentences in prison and/or the death penalty?
*2) If a woman’s husband/boyfriend/significant other knows she is aborting, should he be charged as an accessory to murder?
*3) How about her friends who know?
*4) Should abortion doctors receive life sentences in prison and/or the death penalty?
*5) If a woman smokes during her pregnancy and the fetus dies/is harmed as a result, should she be charged with negligent homicide/criminal negligence?
*6) If her husband knew she was a smoker and could kill the fetus, is he criminally negligent?
*7) If a woman eats or behaves unhealthily during pregnancy and the fetus dies/is harmed, should she be charged with negligent homicide/criminal negligence?
*8) If the husband knew, should he, too, be charged?
*9) If a woman has a serious medical condition that would almost always lead to the death of a fetus, but gets pregnant anyway, should she be criminally liable if the fetus dies?
*10) If her husband knew of this condition, should he, too, be criminally liable?
*11) If a company manufactures a product which lights a fire in a fertility clinic, destroying 1500 frozen embryos, should they be charged with manslaughter?
*12) If an electric company has a power failure which cuts power to a fertility clinic, thawing embryos and rendering them unusable, should they be charged with manslaughter?
*13) If a pregnant woman reports to her doctor that she is smoking or otherwise acting in an unhealthy way during her pregnancy, should her doctor be mandated to report it to the appropriate agency for dealing with child abuse?
*14) If a woman has cancer and her chemotherapy kills a fetus, should she be given a life sentence and/or sentenced to die?
*15) If her doctor/oncologist was aware of her pregnancy, should he be charged as an accessory to murder?
*16) Should children who are disabled be allowed to sue a parent for any negligent conduct during pregnancy that may have caused their disability — for instance, smoking or consuming alcoholic beverages?
*17) Should a person with frozen embryos in storage be required to carry each embryo as soon as possible?
*18) Should a person with frozen embryos in storage, should I be able to claim them as dependents on their tax paperwork?
*19) If a government agency determined that a woman was being neglectful to her fetus during her pregnancy, should she be forced by the Department of Children and Families to care for the child and/or have it forcefully removed?
20) If a woman does not want to carry a pregnancy to term and makes this decision after the fetus reaches 22 weeks, should she be able to have a cesarean section to have it removed and given up for adoption? (Note: the government will have to pay for the premature birth care which the fetus will require to survive, just as the government will have to pay for the care of full-term infants who are given up for adoption)
And, actually, I have some questions related to government regulation of voluntary medical procedures like abortion and religion-motivated government regulation of things.
1) Should people under the age of 40 be allowed to permanently sterilize themselves?
2) Should patients be required to sign waivers before undergoing surgeries which are potentially dangerous but also unnecessary (such as breast augmentation, stomach stapling, and laser eye surgery) so that in the event of a problem they will not receive government disability, social security, or other government support?
3) If a Christian Scientist gains a high public office, should he/she be allowed to ban medical treatment in accordance with his/her religious beliefs?
4) If a Mormon gains a high public office, should he/she be allowed to ban caffeinated drinks and alcohol?
5) If an Orthodox Jew gains a high public office, should he/she be allowed to ban shellfish?
I’m sure I’ll think of more to add to this second list but that’s all I’ve come up with at the moment.
I’m genuinely interested in my readers’ takes on these.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Questions