LETTER: Respect different opinions on abortion
Victor Joecks wrote a compelling column on abortion a few weeks back. However, there are other facts to consider.
A fetus is not a person — not yet. The fetus does have a beating heart, but it is the brain that makes it a person. The brain is just starting to develop, and this growth continues after birth. At the end of life, the person is dead when the brain is dead, even if the heart is still beating.
Abortion is a medical procedure. Opposition to abortion is a religious belief and some want the government to enforce this idea. They believe God puts a soul into the body at conception, and it’s wrong to disrupt it. However, some theologians have held that the soul enters the body when an infant takes its first breath of air. They cite, among other passages, Genesis 2:7, which reads: “And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Respect must be given to those who believe differently, and it’s a fact that we don’t all agree on abortion. Those that think it is wrong should never be forced to have an abortion. Likewise, those that don’t agree should not be prevented from having one.
