Contradictions Rife in Debate on Life

Re “Bush’s ‘Slippery Slope’ Could Drag Roe Backward,” Commentary, Aug. 13: Bart Kosko dismisses the pro-life position, that life begins at conception, partially on the grounds that it commits an error in logic by “equating life with growth.” However, the pro-life position does not commit this error, claiming instead that, having had no growth occur, the newly conceived single cell organism (zygote) is alive. The mere existence of the zygote means that it is alive, regardless of its growth, according to the pro-life position.

Kosko’s “fuzzy logic” alternative, on the other hand, does commit this error in logic. Kosko argues that “life is a matter of degree” and that “the life curve is almost zero at conception and grows in degrees as the fetus grows.” Hence the fetus is alive only as much as it grows. According to this claim, growth is synonymous with some degree of life, thus equating life with growth and rendering Kosko’s fuzzy logic alternative faulty by his own admission.

Brian Glenney

Los Angeles

The post-mortem on President Bush’s stem cell decision, as spun by Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card Jr. (Aug. 13), is that the president’s decision will likely survive any congressional challenge by either the proponents of this research or the fundamentalists opposed to any research.

I apologize, but I thought the reason we elected a president was for that person to lead us and to make the right decisions, instead of the ones most politically expedient for his career. As a person who might stand to benefit from an advancement in medical technology, I am of the opinion that our elected leader has let many of us down.

Leo A. Schwarz

Calabasas

Bush OKs stem cell research to save lives but refuses to negotiate to ban nuclear weapons, which will take lives. Does this make any sense?

Edith Waterhouse

Pacific Palisades