2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: A fetus is NOT a BABY or a CHILD. Got that? Eleven things you will NEVER hear: [View all]hedgehog
(36,286 posts)becomes a human being. Clearly, some people view the mother strictly as an incubator from Day1.(The same people who would cut back on WIC and Food Stamps once the child is born.) But there are other people who sincerely believe that the fertilized egg is fully human.
As someone who has gone through two early miscarriages, I can tell you that it is impossible to determine whether I was mourning a child or the idea of a child. Many here would tell me it was only a zygote or fetus, but that's not how it felt.
I am humble enough to say I don't know where to draw the line. I think that viability is a good measure, but then there are women who have third term abortions for what they consider excellent reasons. (No one is pregnant for 8 months and just decides out of the blue to get an abortion!) Pro-choice or anti-abortion, we could all use a little humility and allow those faced with the decision a little privacy.