One could consider this piece subtitled, "A lesson from fiction with implications for the politics of abortion and stem cell research". I will also warn those of delicate sensibilities now: there will be frank discussion of human anatomy, and practices which some find repugnant, under the fold. If either offends you, I encourage you to find something else to read on this site.
Lately, I've been reading a work of fiction penned by the great Arthur C. Clarke, entitled Imperial Earth. One of the aspects of Clarke's work that makes it so permanently popular is the fact that, despite its setting in the future, it speaks to us in the present.
In this case, there is a passage in Imperial Earth that, while published over thirty years ago, is relevant to the debates over abortion and embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). Upon reflection, it strikes me that this passage could even have been written in response to the abortion debate as fueled by the then-recent decision in Roe v. Wade.
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