<p>I know of a situation in Texas where a student at UT got the death penalty when he was on prescription drugs (he was trying to quit his drug habit, but the prescribed drugs conflicted with an anti-depressant he was taking) and was unaware of committing any crime (a police officer was shot); there was also strong evidence to show that it might have been his girlfriend who was with him when the officer was shot....the gun was in the glove department and she testified against him.</p>
<p>I know multiple situations where mentally retarded people got the death penalty.</p>
<p>and others where they were found innocent in the 11th hour.</p>
<p>Yeah, the story of the mentally retarded executionee who asked for dinner and a pie for his last meal. He didn't eat the pie at first, said he would finish it when he got back.</p>
<p>Malicious BASTARD.</p>
<p>Before the twelfth week, so that could mean the eleventh week. At the eleventh week, the fetus is surely not a mass of cells anymore. Thats MY point! I can guarantee you that a majority of abortions don't take place in the first to third week.</p>
<p>Of course there will be certain instances where this will happen. But I certainly feel safer knowing that a malicious murderer is off the streets for good. Capital punishment would greatly reduce the strain that is put upon our jails here in the US. That means more money in your pocket when it comes to paying your taxes. Bah, I have got to leave now, can't "debate" anymore this evening.</p>
<p>I was just correcting you.</p>
<p>And yes, it is a mass of cells. A body, with no brain function, is just a body...and a body, no matter its shape, is just a collection of cells. It is the brain function that determines life, not the shape of cells.</p>
<p>Going to train your army or what?</p>
<p>Yes, that's a fantastic trade off. Killing people....we'll save some space and keep a little money while doing it.</p>
<p>Why didn't you tell me this before....sign me up, big boy.</p>
<p>Yes, keeping Moussaui in prison will only cost us 40K a year. Just pocket change, really.</p>
<pre><code> Bob, an eleven week old fetus has brain function.
</code></pre>
<p>"Functional maturity of the cerebral cortex is suggested by fetal and neonatal electroencephalographic patterns...First, intermittent electroencephalograpic bursts in both cerebral hemispheres are first seen at 20 weeks gestation; they become sustained at 22 weeks and bilaterally synchronous at 26 to 27 weeks."</p>
<p>That was out of my father's medical textbook.</p>
<p>Post #201: "...the gun was in the glove department..."</p>
<p>That's a pretty sloppy department store when they can't keep men's accessories separate from sporting goods.</p>
<p>Yes, when the knives can be found with the scarves, I think a reorganizational meeting is in order.</p>
<p>You clearly didnt understand my last post, but I was at work and wasn't around to explain it all day. Its now too far back for me to make the effort.</p>
<p>I was trying to parallel the arguments for slavery with the argument for abortion. Though sweetny thinks they are disparate, I dont think they explained why this is the case?</p>
<p>I think they are extremely similar sorts of reasoning....a fetus isn't a human being, a black person isn't a human being....neither have rights.....</p>
<p>except a black person is biologically a human and and an embryo before 20 weeks is not.</p>
<p>theyre not analogous.</p>
<p>Uh....wow.</p>
<p>THATS MY WHOLE ARGUMENT. YOU ARE DENYING THE HUMANITY OF THE EMBRYO. JUST LIKE PEOPLE DENIED THE HUMANITY OF SLAVES.</p>
<p>Are you really going to Brown next year?</p>
<p>Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd say that a grouping of cells is just slightly different than a walking, talking, breathing human being.</p>
<p>the arguments for slavey and the arguments for abortion are completely reversed.</p>
<p>pro-slavery used religion, pro-choice use science. that arguments were on opposite ends of the spectrum.</p>
<p>You don't need religion to make a pro slavery argument.</p>
<p>The pro choice argument is NOT based on science.</p>
<p>So Mr Biologist, I would like you to take a pregnant women, hook her up to any piece of equipment you wish, and notify me of the exact moment the mass of cells inside her becomes a human life. If the 'mass of cells' isn't a human, but the baby emerging from the womb is, then there must be a point in time at which the transformation occurs. FIND IT.</p>
<p>But you can't. The only definite and singular event is the joining of the sperm and the egg. </p>
<p>Biology isn't about on and off switches, its about wax and wane. Take a class in cell biology.</p>
<p>"some lives are worth more than others"</p>
<p>-a conservative on this thread</p>
<p>People like this are the reasons why the world is so ****ed up.</p>
<p>I have taken classes, yes college classes, in cell biology.</p>
<p>"Functional maturity of the cerebral cortex is suggested by fetal and neonatal electroencephalographic patterns...First, intermittent electroencephalograpic bursts in both cerebral hemispheres are first seen at 20 weeks gestation; they become sustained at 22 weeks and bilaterally synchronous at 26 to 27 weeks."</p>
<p>How many times do I have to use this quote? When there is brain function, there is life. It is simple as that. Just as when the brain stops functioning, there is death. Why is it that pronouncing death is so simple and yet pronouncing life has to be so difficult?</p>
<p>You ever hear of an EEG?</p>