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10th Amendment: The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. |
Abortion, Stem Cell Research & Cloning
Both the left and the right argue passionately about abortion, stem cell research, and cloning. Neither side though understands that all three are irrevocable related, any law effecting one, affects how the others are interpreted. Both sides sadly support flawed logic, as you will see.
Liberal / Democrat Argument
Liberals argue that a woman has the right to decide what to do with her body; therefore women have the right to demand an abortion at anytime. There are three critical flaws with the liberal argument; first does a woman have the right to kill her unborn child the day before it's born? No, how about at 8 months when the baby could survive outside the body? No, how about 7 months? 6 months? How do you decide?
Second flaw, the belief that a woman's right to an abortion is protected under the federal constitution. According to the 10th Amendment, the Constitution must specifically give the Federal government the power, other wise it's a power reserved for the states. Since there is no mention of abortion in the Constitution the Federal government has no right to rule for or against abortion. Therefore, the decision is one for the states.
Bill of Rights, 10th Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Third flaw, only the woman has the right to choose. Today the father must live with the decision of the mother. Under the equal protections clause the man has as much right to the child as the mother and both parents must unilaterally decide on any decision. Should the man and women differ the dissenting party may give up their rights and responsibilities.
By extension of the liberals argument, supporters must be for stem cell research, but may be for or against cloning issues based on the limited rights given to pluripotent (stem) cells.
Conservative / Republican Argument
While some conservatives support the liberal argument, most conservatives argue that abortion should be banned at the federal, state, or both levels of government. Conservatives see the act of abortion as the killing of an unborn child, but even with this argument there are flaws and contradictions.
What determines a life? Is a life a zygote (fertilized egg)? A fetus, and if so when? The predicament occurs when you say life begins at conception. By extension when granting rights to a zygote you grant the same rights to an individual's stem cells. The rights transfer because at a basic biological level a zygote is an embryonic stem cell. Therefore, most stem cell research would also be prohibited due to the use of embryonic stem cells.
What if an individual then extracts a quantity of stem cells and injects them into a blank egg, thereby creating a clone. By granting rights to stem cells lawyers would argue that those same rights would extend to the genetic material required to produce a clone. A dangerous precedent indeed.
The Solution
The solution involves the actual defining of what comprises a life. The definition must be scientific and measurable. The answer, life begins at sentience, at consciousness when a fetus becomes self-aware. Even under this definition of life the states would still have the ability to ban and allow abortion up to sentience, stem cell research would be legal, and human cloning illegal.
Other effects: Dolphins and certain species of ape would become protected and illegal to hunt and kill as both exhibit self-awareness.
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