Posted on by Californiacontrarian

When Dead ? … When Alive ?


“When is a person dead?” In the vast majority of situations when called to “pronounce” an individual, the physician will put the stethoscope onto the individual’s chest and listen for a heartbeat. If there is no heartbeat then that individual is pronounced dead. 

In less common situations an ICU physician might say to a family, “If we discontinue the breathing tube, your loved one will die.” If the ventilator is then turned off, often within a relatively short period of time, that individual does die. He/she is then declared dead when the heart stops beating. So far, so good . . . pretty straightforward.

A more difficult issue is that on the opposite end of life. Specifically, when does life begin? The pro-life answer: Life begins at conception, and thus abortion is the taking of the life of the fetus. The pro-choice answer: Life begins at birth, and thus abortion is not taking the life of anyone.

Is aborting a non-viable one month old fetus and aborting a full term fetus the same? An issue with Roe v Wade is that there was no wiggle room in that decision, as it implies that a one month fetus and a full term fetus are the same. But are they?

Some lawmakers do not think they are the same.

Last week in South Carolina a law was passed banning abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected by ultrasound.

Planned Parenthood on 2/18/21, filed a federal lawsuit against the state, which questioned the bill’s constitutionality, saying that the measure would overturn “the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade.” The South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act, which bans abortions if providers detect a heartbeat on an ultrasound excluding cases of rape, incest, and physical danger to the mother, was signedinto law by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster on 2/18/21.

On 2/19/21, a federal judge, Mary Geiger Lewis, temporarily halted South Carolina’s law banning most abortions if fetal heartbeats are detected.

On this issue, to me, there are basically two questions:

When is a fetus considered to be a living thing? 

At conception? At birth ? Or somewhere in between?

Does a fetus have any rights?

In my recent novella, The Keneally Chronicles, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Keneally is faced with these same two questions in a contentious abortion case out of California. He realizes that as a moderate, in all likelihood, he will be the deciding vote in a 5-4 decision.

What is his opinion and what is his reasoning?

The Keneally Chronicles is available on both Amazon and Kindle.

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