---

     

Unborn Child a Parasite, a Tapeworm: Columnist

By Hilary White and John Jalsevac

LANSING, MI, August 2, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a July 26 column that reads almost like a parody of the slogans of the abortion movement, a sophomore at Michigan State University has declared that the unborn child is a parasite, similar to a tapeworm that should be "annihilated."
 
Writing for The State News, the campus paper of Michigan State University, one of the largest universities in the U.S., Shane Krouse writes, "The fetus is merely a wad of cells. A mere wad of cells doesn't equate to a fully functioning, living human being. A wad of cells cannot make its own cognitive decisions… Comparatively, a fetus is little more than a tapeworm. It is quite common for humans to annihilate parasites with medications or toxins, so why not allow for fetuses to suffer the same fate?"
 
Krouse asks rhetorically, "How can you kill something that is not yet living?" He answers his own question saying that the child after birth is "alive" because it no longer receives nutrients and oxygen through the umbilical cord from the mother. He does not clarify how a thing that processes nutrients and oxygen, grows, moves independently and replicates its own cells – the usual criteria for living things established by the biological sciences – can be not alive in the womb but suddenly alive at the moment of birth.

Nick Mrozowski, the editor for The State News, told LifeSiteNews.com that Krouse's piece does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the newspaper itself. "When we publish a columnist it is their view," he said. "We routinely publish columns that the paper does or does not agree with."

"[Krouse] has reinvigorated a debate in our community that is important. A debate is good."

Mrozowski said that the reponse to Krouse's inflammatory language has been a mere handful of letters, some opposed and some in favor. 

One woman wrote to the State News to say that she agreed with Shane Krouse that the unborn child is a parasite that may be killed with impunity.
 
Clementine Ford of Adelaide, Australia wrote in response that because the "reasoning for abortion is personal…there can be no definable ‘valid’ reason for having one."
 
"Personally, I aborted my parasite because of failed contraception and a fervent desire not to breed right now. I feel no guilt for my actions."

See the original State News story at
http://www.statenews.com/op_article.phtml?pk=36986
(Note: The "Send a letter to the editor" link is in the top left-hand corner of the webpage.)

 Back to Top

---

SHARE THIS STORY: E-mail  Print  Newsvine  Digg  Reddit  Del.icio.us  Facebook

---

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.