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Sotomayor compares fetus to brain dead person, says fetal movement doesn't prove consciousness
Fox News ^ | Dec 1, 2021 | Andrew Miller

Posted on 12/01/2021 5:28:15 PM PST by where's_the_Outrage?

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected the idea that a fetus that has the ability to move and react to pain is a human life that should be protected from abortion.

"Virtually every state defines a brain death as death," Sotomayor, appointed by former President Barack Obama, said during oral arguments in a potential landmark abortion rights case Wednesday, as the state of Mississippi defended an abortion restriction law that directly challenges Roe v. Wade.

"Yet, the literature is filled with episodes of people who are completely and utterly brain dead responding to stimuli," Sotomayor continued. "There's about 40 percent of dead people who, if you touch their feet, the foot will recoil. There are spontaneous acts by dead brain people. So I don't think that a response to -- by a fetus necessarily proves that there's a sensation of pain or that there's consciousness."

Sotomayor also said that she believes the idea that a fetus is a human life is a "religious view."

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: abortion; fetus; life; scotus; sotomayor; tokenhispanic
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To: McBuff

“the law must err on the side of life”
***I agree. Unfortunately the law does not. What we need is a course of action that saves the most babies.

from my home page

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I’ve posted this in a couple of places and it doesn’t seem to get much more than a yawn, even though it’s kinda-sorta an incremental approach.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1908148/posts?page=125#125

I believe a fetus is a human being who deserves protection under the law from being killed.
***I do too. That fetus deserves protection extended by the state.

I do wonder if it is biblical to extend ‘full” protection to a fetus? I.e. when a man hurts a pregnant woman, he’s expected to pay an eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth. But if the unborn baby is killed, the price is not the same.

Perhaps it is time to consider a 3 (or even 4) tiered system of protection.

Tier 1: Living, viable, late term baby which will not be aborted unless the life of the mother is at stake.

Tier 2: Living, not-yet-viable pre-born human who should have the right to protection and life and a safe womb to which it can attain viability. Cannot be aborted unless there is an open rape case associated with the pregnancy or the life of the mother is at stake.

Tier 3: Living, early stage, not yet viable pre-born human for whom we do not extend the rights of life in this society because of a historical snag where we once considered such tissue not to be a baby. We as a society thought it was best to consider it a private decision. I personally do not believe in Tier3 abortions, but I can understand that there are many who think it is a ‘right to choose” at this stage. It may be time to consider a program where the woman declares her pregnancy and intent to abort. Our societal function at this point would be to provide a family that is willing to adopt this baby and to put up this woman for 6-8 months in a safe environment so the baby can grow and maybe the woman can learn some life skills. If our society cannot muster the forces necessary to save this baby, the woman has the sickening ‘right” to abort this pregnancy. Time for us to put up or shut up.

With a 3-tiered plan in place, women would stop using abortion as a means of birth control. Millions of lives would be saved. We would extend the right to life to every human that we have resources to save. Unfortunately, if we cannot put up the resources to save the Tier3 babies, we still would have this horrible practice staining our nation’s soul.

125 posted on 10/08/2007 1:43:20 PM PDT by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq — via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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121 posted on 12/02/2021 8:08:34 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: aquila48

It also has its own separate DNA. And it is detectable within a few short days of conception.


122 posted on 12/02/2021 8:15:25 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: Tacrolimus1mg

123 posted on 12/02/2021 8:18:55 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: EvilCapitalist

She is the Wise Latina.


124 posted on 12/02/2021 8:20:58 AM PST by sport
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To: EvilCapitalist
So if Sotomayor goes into a coma, and there’s a chance she could wake-up, but she’s basically brain dead, it’s ok to pull the plug on her by her logic.

The DEFINITION of brain death is "Brain death: Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem."

I.e., medical authorities have declared that there is no chance of the person ever in the future regaining consciousness.

Contrast with the fetus, where it is the NORMAL expectation that the fetus will become an alert baby, given a few months more of maternal life support.

A judge should know that the comparison is legally invalid.

125 posted on 12/02/2021 8:21:53 AM PST by PapaBear3625 (Only the insane have the strength to prosper. Only those who prosper truly judge what is sane)
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To: dangus

Excellent point.

At what stage in pregnancy (how many weeks?) are fetal brain waves detectable? And at what point are they discernibly brain-stem responses?


126 posted on 12/02/2021 8:24:06 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: unlearner

from google

Even though the fetus is now developing areas that will become specific sections of the brain, not until the end of week 5 and into week 6 (usually around forty to forty-three days) does the first electrical brain activity begin to occur.Jun 19, 2005

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sxsrf=AOaemvJ-MlADusCaSvD2ai6QqbS-JGs7lA:1638462331455&q=at+what+stage+of+pregnancy+do+fetal+brain+waves+occur?&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgxPnpw8X0AhWxkmoFHX2cBcgQBSgAegQIARAx&biw=1536&bih=714&dpr=1.25


127 posted on 12/02/2021 8:26:54 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: ronnie raygun

how does she feel about them.
***You’re using Libtard Logic right there. A preborn human in their minds does not become a human being until people like her have “feelings” for them.


128 posted on 12/02/2021 8:32:21 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: PapaBear3625

+1


129 posted on 12/02/2021 8:34:22 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: Kevmo

Yes and there are those who want to move the goal post. It is possible that brainwave activity happens much sooner but has not yet been detected.

Medical science, from the beginning, recognized abortion as a crime. Abortionists want to pretend that the idea is somehow a novel invention and contrivance.

But abortionists prefer to keep the criteria ambiguous and undefined because their definition of life boils down to whatever they want it to be in order to justify what they want.

But even if the abortionists had some criteria that could justify abortion sometime after conception or implantation, they short-circuited the process with Roe v. Wade. It was, is, and always will be legislating from the bench. Needs to be overturned.


130 posted on 12/02/2021 10:10:49 AM PST by unlearner (Be ready for war.)
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To: unlearner
For the sake of 60 million souls, I fear that the court is going to punt on this issue.


131 posted on 12/02/2021 10:32:16 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: Kevmo

FIVE weeks. FIVE.


132 posted on 12/02/2021 10:42:31 AM PST by dangus
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To: dangus
I answered my own question in the very next post.

I'm okay with states acknowledging , extending, and protecting Personhood and the right to life at 5 weeks. I'd be okay with it at conception but I doubt it would ever go through.


133 posted on 12/02/2021 10:46:56 AM PST by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: rightwingcrazy

WAS SHE EVER A HUMAN BEING?


134 posted on 12/06/2021 4:21:51 PM PST by 5th MEB (Progressives in the open; --- FIRE FOR EFFECT!!)
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