HBL-A0023 - Abortion

• death is at the point the brain stops working. life is at the point the brain starts working.
• the brain starts working at around the end of the first tri-mester.
• the fetus is a person for all intents and purposes at that point.
• abortion must balance out the human rights of the infant, the mother, and the father, as well as take into consideration the emotional needs and values of other interested parties.

The issue of abortion swings on whether a fetus is a person. The matter of whether someone is a person can only be determined by two means, possession of a soul or a working brain. Other matters such as feeling pain, being dependent, and having potential are far more debatable and less specific. There is no way to determine whether a fetus has a soul. Therefore, the only method of determining whether a fetus is a person is whether the brain is working. This happens around the end of the first trimester. This is our determination, that abortion after the fetus is 3 months old (more specifically when the doctor determines the brain has kicked in) is killing a person. In matters of rape or danger to the mother or child, each case needs to be judged in it's specifics according to the following guidelines. 1) Whether the mother's life is more important than that of the fetus must be specifically determined based on exacting criteria, never assumed. 2) Whether the child is wanted is irrelevant, someone else certainly does. The adoption laws in this country happen to be such that draconian processes must be navigated to adopt. If these were changed, every child would have a home.

A strong exemption exists in the case of rape because it is difficult, if at all possible, for any authority to determine the mother must exist with what might reasonably be considered a torturous circumstance. However... if clear and substantial evidence is shown that this is not the case, the normal balance must be determined.