Threat: my thoughts on abortion.

I can't believe this is an argument we even need to have in 2020, but here we go.

An unborn baby being "alive" depends on your definition of alive. If you define "living" as being composed of cells capable of performing basic metabolic functions, then yes, a fetus is "living."

Just because the fetus is composed of living cells does not mean it is capable of surviving outside of the uterus independently. This is where we come to the subject of fetal viability.

Fetal viability indicates the chances of the baby surviving outside the uterus by gestational age. Fetal viability at 21 weeks or less is 0%. Fetal viability doesn't even reach 50% until 25 weeks.

"Late term abortions" are defined as taking place between 21 and 24 weeks. These are not *nearly* as common as the media makes them out to be. According to CDC data, 91% of abortions take place at or before 13 weeks, with only around 1.2% performed after 21 weeks.

The neural circuitry for pain in fetuses is immature and the developmental processes for cognitive pain experiences have not yet developed. There is no significant evidence to support the idea that a fetus can feel pain and, in fact, there is more to oppose the idea.

Abortion does not generally contribute to PTSD. A study by the National Institute of Health indicated that women who received an abortion were at no higher risk of PTSD than a women who denied an abortion. Conversely, 9% of women experience postpartum PTSD following childbirth.

Most who claim to be "pro-life" terribly underestimate the amount of children currently in foster care and have no plans for babies born to mothers who are unfit/unable to care for their children if they are forced to.

The "heartbeat" that physicians detect at 6 weeks is not a functional heart. The impulses detected as the heartbeat at 6 weeks are simply random firings of the cell group that will eventually become the sinoatrial node, which generates contractions of the heart.

Furthermore, though an electrical impulses exists as a form of a "heartbeat," no cardiac sounds can be heard as the heart is far from developed and no circulatory function is occurring.

Premature babies, while they are viable by 24 weeks, cannot even breathe on their own without the aide of a ventilator until around 28 weeks.