Word: personhood
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...fundamental area of disagreement between HRL and SFC is the definition of personhood. The two groups agree that the fetus is biologically human, but disagree on whether humanity automatically implies personhood, and whether this issue should be the focus of the debate. SFC views the fetus as a "potential life," in the words of Roe v. Wade, but not yet a full human person. Its position within the woman's body, and its status of complete dependency on her, situates it as part of her body rather than as its own separate entity...
...emphasizes the personhood of the mother first and foremost. It argues that because a fetus is not a fully human person, the conflict between its rights and those of the mother is a false construct. According to SFC's view, reproductive rights secure liberty while preserving quality of life by ensuring that every mother is a mother by choice and that every child is a wanted child. Their view is that governmental attempts to take away those rights will only send desperate women back to illegal clinics, where unlicensed doctors perform unsanitary abortions which can lead to severe bleeding...
...human beings are human persons because personhood is inherent in the nature of a human being. This status is independent of all external factors, including dependency, level of development, level of intelligence, and consciousness. While SFC strongly disagrees, HRL contends that any argument placing conditions on a human being's personhood bases human rights on an arbitrary decision and can be used to justify infanticide just as easily as abortion. Further, HRL believes that tying the value of human life to its "quality" is extremely dangerous and can justify the killing of the weakest and most defenseless members of society...
Naturally, there are greatly divergent moral and legal implications of these core value differences. Morally, HRL states unequivocally that abortion is equivalent to murder because it is the intentional killing of a human person. Legally, however, HRL believes that an agreement on personhood is not even necessary. It believes if there is any doubt about whether or not the fetus is a human person, then abortion should not be legal, because one cannot risk being wrong when human lives are at stake. SFC, on the other hand, states that a woman should never be forced into a pregnancy against...
...real world, like her reference to paychecks. Way passe! Anybody with any sort of a marginally permanent job these days (that's one where you're pretty confident you'll still be working tomorrow) has direct deposit. And rent! Paying rent is a clear sign of early-real-personhood (the stage where I still reside). Advanced (or real) real personhood involves shedding rent in favor of mortgage payments, thus assuming a debt burden even greater than your student loans...