Quote:
Originally posted by matthew330
and about that whole "if it can't live outside the wound, it's a parasite and not really alive" argument. this could apply to newborns, children up to say 16 or 17; retarted adults; adults with down syndrome. By your rationale and definition of life - all of these groups are parasites and not really "alive" in that none are capable of surviving on their own and require the care of another human being.
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you're taking that way out of context. until a baby is like 8 months old, if you remove it from the mother, it will die (without major medical intervention). it is not fully developed. it may be a human being, but it is not a fully developed one and since in order for it to live it must get it's nutrients and oxygen from the mother, it is a parasitic/host relationship that is going on. they are not symbiotic. the baby can't live on it's own outside of the mother. it's that simple.
after it's born, yeah, it still won't survive without the help of other people. it can't feed itself or cloth itself. but first of all, we're not talking about once it's born. if we were, then we'd be talking about all the people having kids that cant' afford to feed and clothe them without assistance from the govt. until the baby leaves the womb, it is analogous to either a parasite (because it leeches everything it needs from its host) or a tumor (an uncontrolled growth in the body).
you're this could apply to group x, y and z doesnt' matter. we're not talking about those groups, and by definition they arent' parasites anyways (at least not in a biological manner, which is what we're talking about).