NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/talk/abortion/53760

Text File | 1993-01-01 | 3.4 KB | 76 lines

Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Path: sparky!uunet!mnemosyne.cs.du.edu!nyx!mcochran
From: [e-mail] (Mark A. Cochran)
Subject: Re: Nyikos and the one bad apple theory of forced pregnancy.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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Date: Fri, 1 Jan 93 05:30:08 GMT
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In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Stephen Matheson) writes:
>From article <[e-mail]>, by [e-mail] (Paul Lebow):
>> In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
>> (Larry Margolis) writes:
>>> In <[e-mail]> [e-mail]
>> (Peter Nyikos) writes:
>
>>> >Meanwhile, 1,600,000 unborn children, most of them already in the
>>> >fetus stage, are aborted each year in the USA alone.
>
>>> This would be interesting to see you document this, since the dictionary
>>> says:
>>> fetus (n)
>>> DEFINITIONS:
>>>     an unborn or unhatched vertebrate esp.
>>>     after attaining the basic structural plan
>>>     of its kind; specif : a developing human
>>>     from usu. three months after conception
>>>     to birth
>>> (c) G. & C. Merriam
>
>Gosh, I hate to complicate matters, but I must take issue with this
>definition.  According to my human embryology text, the fetal period begins
>in the 9th week of gestation when, as the dictionary correctly reports, the
>criterion for fetushood has been met: attainment of the basic structural
>plan of a human.  I think you'll find that this is embryology's definition
>of fetus, and that the dictionary writers were influenced by the popular
>trimester system which is numerically convenient but is not based on
>developmental events.
>
Mine also define fetus as 9weeks+. Fortunately, they also do a fine
job of differentiating between a fetus and a child, contrary to what
Paul "Monkey Boy" Lebow attempts to insinuate later in this article.

>>> and the statistics I have show that more than 90% of all abortions in
>>> the USA are performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
>
>It would be interesting to see how many abortions are performed before and
>after 9 weeks.
>
>>> I know you like neither dictionaries nor statistics; I'm taking bets on
>>> which you'll attack first.  (The odds-on favorite is that you'll run away
>>> again.)
>
>This appears to be a rare case in which an attack on the dictionary is
>warranted.  I wonder how many other dictionaries contain this error.
>
>> Larry.....Oh Laaaaarrryyy.  This is the ghost of old Dan Webster hauting
>> you.  Have you looked up the definition of "child" lately, Larry?  You and
>> Peter can run down that path, together.
>
>Aw, gee, Paul, can't you just tell us now?
>
You expect Monkey boy to deal in facts? Sorry Stephen, it just ain't
going to happen.

--
                  Mark Cochran          [e-mail]
These are the views of my employer. They also represent the views of
your employer, your government, the Church of your choice, and the
Ghost of Elvis. So there.