Fri 21 Jul 2006
I see it’s almost been a month since I’ve posted anything new. I expect this will be my only post for July. Mainly this was because I was on vacation for a few weeks in Thunder Bay and as some of you may know, my parents only have dial up. The trip was okay; Air Canada lost my luggage again (why do I even fly with them? oh…because they have a monopoly [from Windsor at least]). I did my usual “visiting home” things like see the doctor, dentist, get a hair cut, etc. Even though I extended my time there, it was still too short.
Tomorrow I’ll be in Waterloo to help out at Student Life 101. I missed my own SL101 2 years ago, and I think I just didn’t get out of bed during the last one, so it will be my first time seeing what it is like. I haven’t obligated myself to too many activities so it should allow me to roam around and help out where I feel. Nothing worse when volunteering for these things than being stuck at the same station the whole day long. At least there will be some air conditioned buildings…it’s been so hot this week, and I’ve got a cold from the office a/c and hot humid air outside. My eyes have been buring for 5 days too. 
In not so suprising news, Bush has vetoed his first bill, one that would slack off the ban on Stem Cell research he implemented. That’s all fine and dandy, and he proudly says he did it for the first time on moral grounds…despite the fact he uses signing statements on any bill he doesn’t like to change it to what he does. In a fabulously staged photo-op he brought out parents who “adopted” embryos. They saved them he claims, which makes me wonder why he doesn’t take a stronger stance. Clearly every embryo is alive and sentient and we should crack down on those mothers who’ve had miscarriages. Clearly they did something wrong in the eyes of God and killed their child. Maybe we should execute them. Oh, and damnation to any women who ever has a period as her egg could have been fertilized and become a baby! That egg had the right to be part of an embryo and have a life! It’s negligence on the part of the women for not getting knocked up when she had a chance…of course no one would ever believe that by donating eggs that would die either way to be used to create stem cells which could save lives would be a good idea. Nope, because God says it’s wrong. I can’t wait for Mike’s abortion blog post. 
(That was sarcasm for the few people who would have snapped at me)
After reading Mr. Ignatieff’s book I’ve considered many of the concepts that he brought up. One that stuck out was the fact that is someone doesn’t plea for assistance in defending their rights (i.e. they don’t believe themselves that their rights are being infringed on) then they aren’t being violated. This is the foundation of non-interventionalist policies. It allows others to take action when there are bad things happening (like the Holocaust or Kosovo) but allows different cultures to be left alone (like the actions towards many Muslim women that they themselves don’t feel violated). If I were to put this logic towards a fetus (which up to a certain point is not sentient) then abortion isn’t a violation of a fetus’ “right to life”. This phrase implies that a fetus/embryo is actually alive, but not just alive in a strict biological sense. No one cries over the death of an onion. Lots of things are alive, but the thing that distiguishes human life is sentience. There has to be a certain level of awareness, which requires a minimum of physical development.
I’ll go on record of when I believe human life begins. I believe that it happens during some time within the womb. Since I’m not a biologist, I’m not sure around what time it would happen, but from my understanding of the process, I’d guess sometime in the second trimester. So I’ll go ahead and saw that fetuses/embryos aren’t alive in the first trimester. It is worth noting about my above logic that even though past that time a fetus still cannot claim its rights are being violated, before that time we can be confident that we are not because it is not even sentient yet. By drawing in the arguement that it will be alive later is wrong. I could say the same thing to someone that is alive that because one day they will be dead, they don’t have rights. When ajudicating rights, it must be done in the present.
It’s pretty much the weekend now. Lets hope my train arrives on time for once.
Currently Listening to: Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira
Random Wikipedia Article: Triskaidekaphobia
