The Non Persons by Philip K Dick
A PDF of Philip K. Dicks short stories, including one called The Non-Persons, is available here:
http://www.octobot.net/library/Dick,%20Philip%20K/Dick,%20Philip%20K%20-%20The%20Eye%20of%20Sibyl%20and%20Other%20Stories.pdf
One of the short stories in this compilation is The Non-Persons. I havent read it, but it was brought to my attention by someone who wrote an essay about a couple of doctors, one of them from Oxford, who were proslethyzing "after-birth abortions" - that is, babies who are actually born can be aborted for any reason - even if theyre perfectly healthy - because they dont become "persons" until theyre actually old enough to comprehend whats going on around them.
(The article was called Oxfords Nazi Doctors - a misnomer: http://frontpagemag.com/2012/03/05/oxfords-nazi-scientists/)
Now - I admit that that is bushwa!
And I doubt if anyone except these two whackos would go along with this.
(On the other hand, once a kid has reached age 18 and has been violent since age 12, or whatever, I would think its pretty obvious he - or she - will never be a contributing member to society. Id have no problem aborting those schmucks! Or indeed, anyone convicted of a capital crime for which there is absolutely no doubt that they are guilty....)
The author of the abortion commentary was trying to make the point that the pro-lifers do. "IF a baby can be aborted at 3 months, why not 6 months, 9 months, right after birth, etc."
I cant help but think that thats a strawman argument. No one - except the insane - would want to abort a healthy child once it is born. Babies that arent healthy = well, thats another issue.
download file now