Quote:Let me ask you:

 

1. When does "life" began?

2. Is it ever appropriate to terminate a pregnancy?

 

 

Also, I am not "extremely ignorant" to assume that doctors refer to in-utero offspring as a fetus. I work with OB/GYN doctors nearly every day of my career and I've never heard them refer to the fetus as a child. I work with radiologists every day of my career and I've never heard them refer to the fetus as a child. I've read and studied several books on fetal development and none of them ever refer to the fetus as a child.

 

1. At conception

2. Yes

 

I believe the terminology simply go to the difference between the technical and the philosophical. Much written in medical literature (and many other fields) uses technical terms interchangeably for everyday terms that common non-technicians would understand. In my own experiences the physician and staff refer to the child as "your baby" rather than using the more detached clinical terms. Yes, fetus is correct, but that doesn't mean that baby, child, or kid are wrong. And as I said before, I think many on the "celebrate abortion" side intentionally use the detached terms in an attempt to remove the humanity from the target of their obsession thereby making it easier to accept their own or others decision to end a perfectly healthy and viable life. At the same time, those in the profession use strict terminology because of their training and the need to communicate clearly and effectively, not because of their philosophical beliefs about the timing of human life.

---