Download Intro to Issues in Abortion

Introduction to
Issues in Abortion
Rels 300 / Nurs 330
January 2016
Stages of Fetal Development
Some pictures taken from this website:

http://www.w-cpc.org/index.htm
They used pictures from these sources:

Nine Month Miracle CD ROM, by A.D.A.M.
Software, Inc.

the book A Child Is Born by the famous Swedish
photographer Lennart Nilsson

the handbook When You were Formed in Secret, by
Gary Bergel
Additional pictures are from this website:
http://visembryo.com/
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Human Pregnancy
9 months: 3
trimesters
•
1st trimester:
•
•
varies from week 20 to
week 26
•
earlier than 24
weeks, fetuses have
a much smaller
chance of healthy
survival;
•
survival rate at 24
weeks is
approximately 50%
2nd trimester:
•
•
fertilization to week
13
Fetal viability:
weeks 13 to 26
3rd trimester:
•
weeks 26 to 40
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Fetal Development

Make your own record on paper of fetal
development
 Draw a graph, or a time-line, or any other
method of keeping track of stages of fetal
development
 How
long does a process take?
 When does it occur?
 What is the natural % of loss?
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Fertilization

sperm moves up the
vaginal canal, through
cervix, and into the
fallopian tube;
 1%
make it this far

1 sperm penetrates
zona pellucida; this
takes 20 minutes

fusion of nuclei of egg
& sperm takes
another 24 hours
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Single-cell zygote begins cell division:
2, 4, 8, etc.; every 20 hours
• At 16 cells: zygote becomes a morula

Morula leaves fallopian tube,
enters uterus
 Process


takes 3-4 days
5 days after intercourse
conception is now complete

Rate of success = 25%
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Implantation process
continues:

Blastocele cavity forms
in centre of morula

Traphoblast cells
develop an implantation
site for the blastocyst

Implantation site
becomes swollen with
new capillaries

This process takes place
from day 7 to day 12
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
Yellow = the blastocele cavity

Blue ring = the traphoblast cells

Purple ring = the placenta

The small black cluster at 10:00 on the
circle is the developing embryo
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Day 14: implantation is complete
Primitive streak appears on the surface of the
embryonic disc
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
This is the future axis of the
embryo

By day 15 or 16, viable
embryo will continue to
develop

Now possible to determine
if there are multiple
embryos

42% of zygotes fail to
achieve implantation

Of these, 8% spontaneously
miscarry or result 8in a stillbirth
4 week embryo



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Embryo produces
hormones
These function to
prevent the woman’s
menstrual cycle from
shedding the uterine
lining and embryo
Embryo is the size of a
poppy seed
9
5 weeks
Embryo is the size of
a small peanut
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
Internal organs are forming

Heart has begun to beat

Neural tube splits into 3
sections as brain develops

Placenta is functioning

Spine and spinal cord are
growing

Umbilical cord is clear
10
8 weeks
Fetal brain waves can be
measured
•
Facial features developing
•
Eyes have both retina and lens
•
Major muscles are sufficiently
developed to allow movement
•
Fingers have begun to develop
•
Fetus has own blood type, with
blood cells being produced by
its own liver
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11
12 weeks
end of 1st trimester

All essential external and
internal structures are present
in early stages
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
Head: external ear, retina,
eyelids, palate, tongue, teeth
buds

Abdomen: intestines
beginning to move from
umbilical cord to body cavity

Pelvis: external genitalia not
yet present

Limbs: arms, legs, fingers &
toes all developing
12
20 weeks: genitalia now present
+ fetus can hear mother’s voice
+ nearing viability
weight = 10 – 11 ounces
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13
24 weeks
[viability = 20 to 26 weeks]
•
Fetus is thin
•
Little fat development
•
Auditory and visual systems
continue to develop
•
Reflex movements improving
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
Blood vessels forming in
lungs

Lung surfactants begin
production

Fingernails & toenails
developing

Spine is strengthening

All internal organs are formed

50% of 24-week fetuses
survive outside womb

Of these, many have
life-long disabilities
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Full-term fetus:
40 weeks
 Fetus has continued to grow
 Fatty tissue has formed under
the skin

All body parts and organs are more
developed and stronger

Lungs are not yet fully developed

Lungs complete development only after
breathing begins
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On your timeline of fetal
development, place each of these
methods of CONTRACEPTION
METHOD
STAGE OF
DEVELOPMENT

rhythm method


condoms


pill


depo-provera


norplant


IUD


morning-after pill

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http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/health-resources/sexual-health/birth-control/
On your timeline of fetal development,
place each of these methods of Abortion
Medical Abortion
7 weeks
Manual Vacuum Aspiration 8 weeks
Suction Curettage
6 - 14 weeks
Dilation and Evacuation
14 - 23 weeks
(see http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/healthcentres/sexual-health/abortion/what-to-expect/)
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What does it mean to be a person?
When does a fetus become a person?
Is a fertilized ovum a person?

a zygote prior to implantation?

an implanted embryo?
Is a fetus which has attained some certain
level of development a person?
 development of nervous system (20
wks)?
 ability to feel pain?
 fetal viability (20, 24, 28 ? wks)?
 at live birth?
 at some point after birth?
Is a stillborn child a person?
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Choose 2 points of
fetal development
where a person
could argue that a
fetus becomes a
person
give reasons to
support 2 different
points

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A Third Way
by L. Wayne Sumner
LIBERAL VIEW
CONSERVATIVE VIEW
“The liberal view”
“The conservative
view” of abortion:
of abortion:


(voluntary) abortion is
always morally
innocuous
the only acceptable
abortion policy is one
which treats it as
minor elective
surgery
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(text p.275-6)

abortion is always
morally serious

the only
acceptable
abortion policy is
one which treats
abortion as a form
of homicide.
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Sumner proposes a 3rd view:
Moral status of the fetus:
conservative view = full moral standing from
point of conception
liberal view = full moral standing from live birth
Sumner’s view = a gradual, differential, and
developmental view of increasing moral
status throughout gestation
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What does this mean?





early abortion is more like
contraception
late abortion is more like infanticide
permissive abortion policy in early
stages of pregnancy/gestation
more restrictive abortion policy in later
stages of pregnancy/gestation
seek agreement on “threshold stage”
which divides the 2
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Possible criteria of moral
standing
criterion of life = too weak
(not all living things have moral standing as
persons)
criterion of rationality = too strong
(some beings who are not rational still have
moral standing as persons)
criterion of sentience (or consciousness)
= promising middle path
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What is sentience?

ability to experience sensations

ability to feel pleasure and pain

ability to enjoy and suffer

capacity for feeling affect (emotional states)
sentience = consciousness and rationality
“A fetus is…probably sentient by the
conventional stage of viability
(around the end of the second trimester). (Sumner, p.198)
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Sentience as a threshold point
Capacity for sentience depends on the required
physiological structures for sensing

Cerebral cortex – thought, voluntary movement,
language, perception, reasoning

Cerebellum – movement, balance, posture

Brain stem – respiration, circulation, blood pressure

Hypothalamus – body temperature, emotions, hunger,
thirst, sleep/wake cycles

Thalamus – sensory processing, movement

Limbic system – emotions, memory

Midbrain – vision, eye movement, hearing, movement
What is the timeframe for neural development?
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When does sentience begin?
1st trimester fetuses do not have the
physiological capacity for sentience
3rd trimester fetuses do have the
physiological capacity for sentience
Physiological capacity for sentience
develops during the 2nd trimester of
fetal development
Full sentience, including consciousness
and rationality, does not develop until
some time after birth
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2nd trimester abortions
According to Sumner, 2nd trimester abortions will need to be
justified by a competing moral consideration:

serious threat to the woman’s life

serious threat to the woman’s physical or mental health

serious fetal deformity
What would you regard as justifiable reasons
for a 2nd trimester abortion?
In your opinion, should personal inconvenience
and choice count as sufficient reasons for
abortion

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
in the 1st trimester
in the 2nd trimester?
26
B.C. woman, Robyn Benson, 22 weeks pregnant,
declared brain-dead
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/robyn-benson-on-life-support-ashusband-awaits-her-c-section-1.2520768
Dylan Benson says his unborn son was just over five months along
and growing normally when Robyn complained of a headache and
collapsed on Dec. 28.

"She was non-responsive. I tried to call her name and stuff but
nothing would happen," he said.

Rushed to hospital, staff determined that she had suffered a
cerebral hemorrhage, and that damage was irreparable. She was
declared brain-dead the next day.

"On one hand, I can’t wait to meet my son and try, and give him the
best life possible and try my hardest to be a great dad for him. On
the other hand, I know that the day or the day after he is born will
be the day that I have to say goodbye to Robyn."
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If you were in this situation,
22 weeks into a pregnancy,
and suffered a brain hemorrhage,
what would your wishes be?

Would you wish to
have your life
artificially maintained
for 12 more weeks to
increase the likelihood
of a healthy C-section
birth?

Would you wish to
have life-sustaining
interventions removed
to allow for your own
natural death?
WHY?
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Feb. 8, 2014: 'Baby Iver' born healthy
B.C. woman declared brain-dead on Dec. 28
underwent surgery to deliver 'Baby Iver' on Saturday
Robyn Benson, the Victoria woman who was declared brain-dead in
December, underwent surgery on Saturday to deliver a healthy baby
boy before she died the next day.
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/baby-iverborn-healthy-body-of-mother-robyn-benson-dies-1.2531549
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