Obviously, in and of itself, being able to remember does not make on a person, as animals can remember. However, for most of those who believe that personhood is a separate idea than humanity, the idea of consciousness and mental abilities often play into their equations, for lack of a better word, for determining personhood.
Repeatedly, science has shown us the complexity of an unborn human. The more we study them, the more advanced we find them to be. A recent study found that fetuses at the 30 week mark had short term memory. Those at 34 weeks could retrieve remembered information four weeks later.
Knowing this, is there anyone who still wants to defend the legality and morality of partial-birth abortions on late term babies? The abortion debate will not be solved presently, but can we not move forward to eliminate those procedures which are the most brutal and focus on individuals which can remember and experience pain?
