I’ve been pondering this for a while now. I was arguing about abortion a while back, and backed my argument using science facts, because many people have short attention spans and refuse to listen to anything that is not concrete. Then, someone comes along, saying that those facts don’t matter, and that the question of whether a baby is a person is purely philosophical. I think it is both- there are multiple definitions of personhood. Biological (the definition of human), medical, philosophical, and even psychological.
Some say that a fetus is not nearly the same as a baby, not because of developmental difference (third trimester fetuses are not people, according to them), but because of consciousness. Even babies who are born don’t gain self-awareness until well after they’ve been born- around 2-3 years old. Thus, would killing a newborn be morally okay?
What are your thoughts?