Would you take a look at the links I put in post #210? They reveal some situations where an abortion makes much more sense, I would think, than going through with the pregnancy.
Yes absolutely this is why dead people or fetuses aren’t persons.
The situation of a coma patient is a tad trickier because they once had a mind and may get it back. While there is a chance they will return to consciousness they should be treated as people.
I know this isn’t black and white which may offend some message board warriors but life is rarely black and white so I have no problem it.
Simply put the idea is that minds should not be destroyed. If we kill someone in a coma a mind is definitely lost. If we abort a fetus no mind is lost.
Not to rain on your parade here, but you do realize that fetuses have a very high likelihood of gaining consciousness just by letting them live. Certainly a much higher chance than your average coma patient.
This is not the argument to make when supporting a pro choice position.
But coma patients had a consciousness at one point and if they are capable of recovery they still have one; it’s simply shut down. As opposed to a fetus, which has nothing. A coma patent capable of recovery is far closer to a sleeping person than they are to a fetus; their consciousness is in abeyance, not nonexistent. You don’t manufacture a whole new personality and set of memories every morning.
Because if we allow gay marriage, we have to allow whale marriage. And that’s worse than Britney Spears.
Besides, they might want abortions. If they want a Plan B, they need so many fucking pills you need a wheelbarrow, and you have to stuff them into all those mackerel, so it makes the whole over-fishing problem that much worse.
Why doesn’t anybody but me think of these things?
Regards,
Shodan
Before you go off and marry Shamu, however, I need to tell you:
You know blowholes? They’re not what you think they’re for.
You miss the point, destroy a fetus and no mind is lost. Kill a coma patient and a mind is definitely lost.
We’ll make it work. I’ve got a lot of fish treats.
Regards,
Shodan
What makes a recovered consciousness inherently more valuable, more worthy of protection, than a new consciousness?
I learned a new word this morning from you. Neat - thanks! 
Carry on, please. You were saying something about sleeping people and blowholes?
Somebody wants and loves that consciousness that already is. Nobody wants the thing that might grow into consciousness.
The recovered consciousness did so without forcing anyone else to do anything they didn’t want to, particularly not risking their health and their life. The possible consciousness must do that in order to attain consciousness.
Sorry, Mr. Loner Coma Patient, you don’t have enough friends or family, so you get to die. I’ll also point out that there are a non-zero number of elective abortions performed on fetuses that would be cared for (and wanted) by the father.
The coma patient uses valuable medical resources that could be redirected to improving the health of other people in need.
There is a big difference between “enough” and none. A fetus that is being aborted generally has no one that cares about it.
Which is why the second part of my post comes into play - no one other than the woman who would have to carry the pregnancy and give birth should be involved in the decision. You would also need to take a hard look at how many of those very few fathers who claim they want the fetus are doing so for other reasons.
Same can be said of pregnancy and birth. Not to mention the resources the new life no one wants ends up using.
Let the father carry it to term then. Oh wait.
Who are all these people missing out on treatment because of coma patients?
I take this to mean that you’re OK with denying treatment to coma patients who have no friends or family.
There is a big difference between “generally” and none.
I entirely agree, of course this isn’t an argument based on a fetus’s level of consciousness or how many people care for it, it’s an argument that makes logical sense.
If you argue that it’s OK to abort a fetus because “nobody wants it” you have to consider the alternative case where someone does actually want it, because sometimes people other than the mother honestly want the baby to be born, and would lovingly care for it if they had the chance.
None of that matters, and it’s perfectly fine that only the mother’s opinion matters, just don’t argue differently.
Coma patients take beds, and significant nurse/doctor/equipment resources to manage their care. That stuff isn’t free, and those resources can go to other people, or simply reduce the cost of care, so more people can afford care.
Myself personally? Probably. But my personal opinions have no weight in what other people decide to do. In general, you are not going to be able to find a coma patient in a hospital who does not have any loved ones.
In the case of aborted fetuses, there really isn’t. Fetuses are aborted because the woman didn’t want it, and it is the rare male who would want to raise a baby by himself.
It’s a logical argument to those who want to compare consciousness between a fetus and a coma patient.
The fact that it exists. Your argument leads straight to “every sperm is sacred”; should I be considered a mass murderer when I masturbate? Look at all those poor dead “new consciousnesses!”
And here is a true story that gave us all pause when we heard it:
My friend D’s niece, L, gave birth to a girl who had no brain and only a tiny piece of brain stem which kept her alive for about a year and a half.
During that time, as D said, it was quite awkward just to be around the girl. You’d look into her eyes and no one was looking back or even reacting. You could have burned her with a hot poker and she never would have felt it. Was there anybody in there? Any consciousness? I am doubtful.
Let me rephrase it, do you contend that your right to live should be dependent on whether or not people love you?
This isn’t MY argument, it’s yours. You said that coma patients have loved ones and fetuses don’t, and that’s why we treat them differently. The reality is that coma patients may or may not have loved ones, and fetuses do sometimes have people who want them. The reality is also that neither of those factors actually mean squat. The friendless coma patient isn’t going to be summarily discharged by a hospital to starve on his doorstep. The fetus who has 2 sets of grandparents 10 aunts and uncles and a father desperate to care for it still gets aborted if the mother decides to.