A fetus isn't viable until week 20ish. Even then it won't survive outside the mothers body. 1% of abortions happen after week 20.
About 90% of abortions happen before week 13. It's not even a fetus at this point. The body it self might abort still at this point, this is when mis carriages happen.
Why do you feel an unviable collection of cells is a human?
Because it is human, and it is alive.
It is human, in the sense that it is descended from humans and is not dog or a dandelion or a caterpillar. It has human genetic code. It is one continuous line from the merge of two human sex cells to full-grown human. There is no jump, somewhere along the way, from not human to human.
It is alive. A plant is alive, so surely so is a fetus.
> A fetus isn't viable until week 20ish.
Whether it is viable doesn't determine whether it is human or alive. A two-year-old outside the womb isn't very viable either. In fact, some 20-year-olds aren't very viable.
Viability is shaky ground upon which to base legal protection. Just think of the handicapped or those with other chronic maladies. Or any of us can become unviable temporarily through some accident or acute illness. Does our right to life disappear?
> Why do you feel an unviable collection of cells is a human
A "collection of cells" does not describe a fetus any better than an adult.
- At about 18 days, there is a heartbeat
- At about 40 days, there is brain activity
- By the end of the first trimester, it has all its organs. It just needs to grow.
"Photography of the human fetus developing in the womb": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD1gW88Lm-Y
> What does location have to do with it?
Inside the womb or outside the womb, its location seems to be the dimension used by those who say abortion is okay.
The difference between fetus and infants is the first is still attached to its mother. Its continued growth depends on its attachment to mother. Similar to a tumor.
I don't think you actually understand what you are talking about if you are confused about the term viability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_viability
Your link to photos means you are forming your opinion based off emotion and not understanding the difference between cells splitting, and what a independent human is.
At what point do you think the sperm and egg are human? Even the first split after they join is still just two cells.
What proof do you have that says a fetus at 16 weeks is alive? How are you defining alive?
> it has all its organs. It just needs to grow.
This is still dependent on the mother, it is not its own thing at this point.
Yes, and they are all human, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/human
> None of these are living humans yet. They're pre humans.
Citation needed.
> without an identity or awareness
That is pretty easily disproven scientifically. Not even a biologist who is for legal abortion would say that a baby in the womb is unaware. There was an ultrasound a long time ago where you see the fetus recoil from the abortionist's knife. Of course it's aware. Just because it can't see the outside world yet doesn't mean it's unaware.
As far as identity, well, it has a unique fingerprint, DNA, etc. Are you saying you don't have an identity until there's a birth certificate?
> At what point do you think the sperm and egg are human?
Well, they are human from inception (see above). But they are a separate human being at conception.
> What proof do you have that says a fetus at 16 weeks is alive? How are you defining alive?
Even a single cell is alive. You have drifted from textbook science at this point.
> This is still dependent on the mother
Dependence doesn't disqualify you from being human or alive.
> Even a single cell is alive. You have really drifted from textbook science at this point.
We're not talking about human cells being alive. were talking about the whole organism being considered alive and its own thing.
Talking about whether an organism that can not exist independently of its host, that hasn't experienced life yet can be aborted by that host.
It feels like your being disingenuous arguing semantics like cell life with me. Yes cells are live, no the organism is not an independent thing with its own rights. An nonviable fetus is not a fully grown human, this isn't killing babies.
This is not some clump of cells that "responds to stimulus" before birth and magically becomes "conscious and aware" after birth. It doesn't even line up with fetal viability.
> We're not talking about human cells being alive. were talking about the whole organism being considered alive and its own thing.
The whole organism is alive and its own thing from conception. This is undisputed among biologists.