Best response ever to “fetus is parasite” meme
Two comments following the January 23 article in The Hill, “Proponents of DC voting rights challenge proposed late-term abortion ban”:
THIS IS SCIENCE: FETUS IS NOT A BABY (GOOGLE THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CHART), but a parasite because the classification of the biological relationship that is based on the behavior one organism (fetus) and how it relates to the woman’s body…. since a man can kill his tapeworm at anytime– so should a woman abort unwanted, human-parasitic fetus, too.
~ Commenter Gale Routh
Oh shut up please.
~ Commenter Mark, responding to Gale
[HT: Chicken Man; photo via berkeley.edu]
Feb.04, 2012 8:25 am |
Apologetics |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Yep. Pretty much the only thing you can say.
I can see where Gale got this idea. She was once a fetus, right? And she sure resembles a giant tapeworm now. No wonder she sees them everywhere.
This is the same kind of rationale that people use wheb they justify killing neglecting or otherwise abusing children after birth. Another word children are not fully human because they are dependent on adults to care for them. Children should be recognized as human beings at conception and should be given their civil rights as citizens of Gods kingdom which at one time included the United States of America. Until the unborn are recognized as human beings this country and the world will continue to morally disintegrate. Why should the lack of responsible behavior on the part of parents justify killing the innocent child in the womb?
How about: your not serious are you?
Hi Gale
While you are being quiet please Google PARASITE.
Great point, Carla. A parasite is a different species than the host.
gloria stienam on abortion……a woman has a right to remove a parasite from her body. hitler about the jews ….the jews are worthless eaters. they are parasites.
lol yep tape worms and human babies – TOTALLY THE SAME.
Good on Mark haha sometimes you just gotta get a little sassy.
But what on EARTH is that picture supposed to be? Another sick attempt at plushies by the pro-aborts? Because it looks too bright and focused to be an actual picture of anything scientific – what is it? haha.
This is where we are, folks. Sometimes I want to cry for this nation.
I just find it hilarious that with this argument they are conceding a point they defended for so long–that the fetus is PART of the mother’s body.
With the parasite rhetoric, they’ve finally cast that one aside.
I’ve heard this “parasite” non-sense for over 15 years now and thought it was stupid then and it is stupid now. For one to view a human child in the womb of a women as a simple parasite is preposterous!
It’s just another way of avoiding the truth and running away from the reality so not be convicted in ones own heart and making excuses for killing.
To reduce the unborn to the level of a parasite is ridiculous and idiotic! Not only that, but it is Scientifically false, period!
Check why this is so:
http://www.l4l.org/library/notparas.html
I think we have what would constitute a human parasite in the White House. He and his parasitic family.
Seth! Excellent point. Is the fetus a parasite or part of the woman’s body? my foot is part of my body. Not a parasite.
However, my unborn son is NOT a part of my body, buthe is also not a parasite. He is actually right where he is SUPPOSED to be. And what about that new study that shows that fetal cells cross the placenta and improve the health of the mother? Sounds like a symbiotic relationship, not parasitic.
A new pro-choice low. Apparently the author has not migrated past her origin (assuming we were all parasites at one time). Isn’t there a compound for people with this kind of stupid somewhere???
I don’t always defend legal abortion. But when I do, I usually copy/paste the same arguments across every blog or news site I can find. I use lots of sockpuppets, and I never once notice the painful irony of quote mining the Bible before dismissing it as a myth in the same post:
http://disqus.com/yahoo-WLANNXG267BDEZS74YSQIQQHXU/
http://disqus.com/facebook-100002582112073/
http://disqus.com/google-4f12a6b3b3b42773f72435ed8b51e68c/
On a more serious note, I find it interesting that the CDC and NIH don’t say anything about pregnancy or fetuses in their list of human parasites.
Okay…
Putting on my lab coat…
Proaborts can use a little biology refresher. There are three symbiotic relationships that we speak of in biology:
Commensalism
Mutualism
Parasitism
The relationship between mother and child is NOT parasitic. In fact, it isn’t any of the symbiotic relationships, strictly speaking. However, it comes closest to mutualism and commensalism. In order to get that, let’s define the three relationships, starting with the proabort’s beloved parasitism.
The following definitions are from what is arguably the most comprehensive, authoritative, and widely used textbook in microbiology, and is the text we used (in an earlier edition) when I studied post-baccalaureate science at Columbia University:
Prescott, Harley, and Klein’s Microbiology, 7th Edition now under the editorial authorship of Willey, Sherwood, and Woolverton.
Parasite- An organism that lives on or within another organism (the host) and benefits from the association while harming its host. Often the parasite obtains nutrients from the host.
Parasitism- A type of symbiosis in which one organism benefits from the other and the host is usually harmed.
Commensal- Living on or in another organism without injuring the other organism.
Commensalism- A type of symbiosis in which one individual gains from the association, and the other is neither harmed nor benefited.
Mutualist- An organism associated with another in an obligatory relationship that is beneficial to both.
Mutualism- A type of symbiosis in which both partners gain from the association and are unable to survive without it. The mutualist and the host are metabolically dependent on each other.
As can be seen, parasitism is the furthest from the relationship between mother and child. Mother and child actually exchange cells that remain in one another’s bodies for decades, and seem to be implicated in things such as tumor destruction, cancer prevention, and a host of other benefits. For an excellent latman’s read on this phenomenon called maternal/fetal microchimerism, click the following link:
http://www.headlinebistro.com/en/columnists/thorn/051210.html
In the latter half of pregnancy, the baby produces the hormone, human placental lactogen (hpl), which converts the cells of the breast lobules from immature, cancer-prone cells to mature, milk-producing, cancer-resistant cells. By the end of the first pregnancy alone, 85% of the breast cells become cancer-resistant, with the remaining 15% becoming systematically more cancer resistant with subsequent breast feeding and future pregnancies followed by breast feeding.
So really, of the three, mutualism comes closest. Parasitism finishes a distant, distant last.
Mark’s response was, well, bracing!
Ellen,
Mark and I said the same thing. He just said it better
Gale Routh posts the same thing on any article related to abortion. Glad to know someone else besides me noticed it.
Dr. Nadal, surely you’re not bringing science into this.
Example of hate speech of the pro-aborts against the unborn child.
They do hate the unborn when they make remarks like that.
But, sweet Gale! Considering a fetus is on the human growth chart, isn’t he or she… human… to begin with?
Remember where you came from, Gale? (It wasn’t the stork.)
Not so fast, Mary Ann…
Perhaps Gail is onto something. Abortionists fit the criteria of parasite pretty neatly. So, perhaps at least some humans are parasites.
“THIS IS SCIENCE: FETUS IS NOT A BABY… but a parasite because the classification of the biological relationship that is based on the behavior one organism (fetus) and how it relates to the woman’s body” This is one of the more awkward, clumsy attempts at explaining somthing scientific that I’ve read. I guess Gale thinks if you throw enough terms like “classification” and “biological relationship,” and “behavior” into your explanation, it sounds scientific.
So let me get this straight – Gale, once having been a parasitic tapeworm-like fetus is now a grown-up parasitic tapeworm adult?
Okaaayyyy….Gale – shall we go with your idea of science?
@Navi: Is it bad that I read your post in the voice of The Most Interesting Man in the World?
ever hear anyone tell a pregnant woman ” lets throw you a parasite shower.” “were all going to have a fetus shower for you.” semantics. makes it easier to kill. and they love to throw in that good old kidney debate which only makes them look worse. i was born with my kidneys. a pregnancy is formed in the womb after 2 people have sex. i didnt obtain a kidney through having sex nor will i ever. its just another feeble attempt to remain in denial or block out guilt. no matter how you slice it abortion kills a human being every single time. and the women who remain in guilt only make it worse for women who want to heal from abortion.
I am beginning to wonder if Gale wasn’t the major backer for that quack in England who made the artificial uterus because apparently being pregnant consists of too much suffering and pain AND should be considered sexist. I don’t understand why these individuals hate being women so much.
I have seen many of Gale’s posts and, honestly, they remind me of a scene from Saving Private Ryan where the Nazis are screaming over a loud speaker how America is kapoot, the Statue of Liberty is kapoot, etc…
I thnk a change of tact on this lame parasite argument is better.
That human embryo has long-term benefits to its mother and helps heal her.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/unborn-child-just-a-parasite-cutting-edge-science-shows-fetal-cells-heal-mo/
it’s funny, you guys conveniently omitted the SCIENCE proving HOW the human fetus IS a parasite… but i guess, when you are in the pro-life-schizophrenic-fascists propaganda business of lying to young girls and women into keep their unwanted pregnancies—SCIENCE proving you wrong, must be ignored.
so, i wonder what will happen to this “movement” of yours, when biologists publicly starts agreing with me? because this blaming everything of which you disagree with on the liberals/socialists/atheists is getting old.
THIS IS SCIENCE:
FETUS IS NOT A BABY (GOOGLE THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CHART), but a parasite because the classification of the biological relationship that is based on the behavior one organism (fetus) and how it relates to the woman’s body.
as a zygote, it invaded the woman’s uterus using its TROPHOBLAST cells, hijacked her immune system by using NEUROKININ B and HCG— so her body doesn’t kill it, steals her nutrients to survive, and causes her harm or potential death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophoblast
“The placenta functions as an immunological barrier between the mother and the fetus, creating an immunologically privileged site. For this purpose, it uses several mechanisms:
It secretes Neurokinin B containing phosphocholine molecules. This is the same mechanism used by parasitic nematodes to avoid detection by the immune system of their host.[2]”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_tolerance_in_pregnancy
” Due to its highly-negative charge, hCG may repel the immune cells of the mother, protecting the fetus during the first trimester. It has also been hypothesized that hCG may be a placental link for the development of local maternal immunotolerance.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin
“It is also possible for a symbiotic relationship to exist between two organisms of the same species.”
http://www.answers.com/topic/symbiosis — Gale’s Science of Everyday Things.
just like a parasitic twin — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitic_twin
“an animal or plant that lives in or on another (the host) from which it obtains nourishment. The host does not benefit from the association and is often harmed by it”
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/parasite
pregnancy CAUSES HARM: http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/004.htm
if a man can abort his tapeworm at anytime– so should a woman abort her unwanted parasitic fetus, too.
THE FETUS DOESN’T HAVE THE ABILITY TO FEEL PAIN –WHEN MOST ABORTIONS OCCUR.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/the-human-condition/2010/06/25/does-the-fetus-feel-pain-uk-report-says-no.html
Gale, did you take the time to read Dr. Nadal’s post?
Scientists are starting to figure out that intestinal parasites convey benefits for humans in the form of an anti-inflamatory substance that they secrete.
Some have even gone so far as to intentionally infect themselves to treat Asthma and autoimmune diseases.
The benefits of a child go much further. It is really quite a blasphemy to compare the two!!!
It never fails.
I am always amused when people turn to attacking(name calling)because they are unsuccessful in countering the message.
Facts are facts. It’s a tough concept I know.
Courtnay,
Do you seriously think that Gale has the intellectual capacity to understand Dr. Nadal’s post?
Gale,
It’s funny, you conveniently ignore the fact that there is no SCIENCE showing that a human fetus is a parasite. Of course, you would have to read a SCIENCE textbook and have some understanding of SCIENCE to realize that. You should try it sometime.
Oh, and you might want to look up the definition of “schizophrenia” and “fascist” so you don’t use these words incorrectly again. Unless you want to continue making a fool out of yourself, that is.
Okay, who phantom linked?
Gale,
Tell your friends, the liberals/socialists/atheists that places like this is where you will find the true humanists. Because we consider those who are less able to care for themselves dependants, not parasites.
It is your fascistic attitude that is ebbing away. To be a true champion of the people, you must care about the well-being of all of them.
Also, secularprolife.org
I get tired of having to constantly remind people that exists.
Xalisae–you are right. As a Christian, I have another way to approach it, but if I were not, I could argue against abortion VERY STRONGLY from the point of being an American and a human.
Civil rights begin in the womb!
Gale,
I have two Master’s Degrees and a Ph.D. in biology. What’s your training?
It’s an important question, as it relates to the next:
What is the source of your belief that the fetus is a parasite. I want the journal article reference ad/or the textbook, complete with authors’ names and institutional affiliations. Then I want the exact quote.
You are obviously not reading the material correctly (if at all).
A parasitic relationship is one that exists between members of two different species. The relationship between a mother and her offspring is a maternal relationship, which is neither mutualism, commensalism, nor parasitism.
that settles it…gale IS a grown up parasite misogynyist!!!!!! shes got cotton in her ears going lalalalalala
GAWD, i guess little old me kicked the bees nest with my last post — but none of you guys has yet, to prove the science that i posted wrong and your little ad hominems against me doesn’t count.
i wonder, what would you guys do, if one popular biologist agreed with me and posted it on his site.
you guys would have nothing to say, but again use the old “blame-the-liberals-socialists-atheist” card.
i guess by now, that card is pretty sworn out.
this is for you, jill — I HOPE YOU LOVE IT.
http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/should-a-woman-have-the-right-to-abort-her-unwanted-fetus/question-2438225/
HEHEHEHEHEHE!
What’s a sworn out card? Is that like a game?
I think I have it…. SCIENCE is a new religious cult that has nothing to do with actual science and is different (though I wonder by how much) than scientology and Christian Scientists… Do you think they serve Koolaid at their conventions?
In all honesty her LACK of biological education is VERY scary. I mean, how does one miss the all important factor that a parasite is an entirely different species than the host?? The DNA of a zygote, fetus, whatever is distinctly the same as the parent/mother/”host”. Basic anatomy here!
Gerard Nadal
“Gale,
I have two Master’s Degrees and a Ph.D. in biology.
A parasitic relationship is one that exists between members of two different species. The relationship between a mother and her offspring is a maternal relationship, which is neither mutualism, commensalism, nor parasitism.”
thanks for replying, even though i’m not educated at all in biology, or in anything really– but i have to say YOU’RE WRONG AND YOU KNOW IT.
so you with all your degrees explain THIS to me: with all the science evidence, proving that the human fetus IS a parasite –why won’t you and your fellow scientists accept this fact?..i doubt jill and the rest of her crazy-ilk is going to beat you up over it– and if so, jebus will still love you, ha.
“It is also possible for a symbiotic relationship to exist between two organisms of the same species.”
http://www.answers.com/topic/symbiosis — Gale’s Science of Everyday Things.
just like a parasitic twin — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitic_twin
“an animal or plant that lives in or on another (the host) from which it obtains nourishment. The host does not benefit from the association and is often harmed by it”
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/parasite
as a zygote, it invaded the woman’s uterus using its TROPHOBLAST cells, hijacked her immune system by using NEUROKININ B and HCG— so her body doesn’t kill it, steals her nutrients to survive, and causes her harm or potential death.
HAVE AN ATHEIST DAY.
@gale, you actually think there’s anything on that stupid sodahead site that Jill and the other pro-lifers on this blog have not read? Wow, you sure sound angry. Science is on the side of pro-life. Just face reality. Use all that passion and intensity and come on over to the side that really loves and values women and believes they are capable of having a child in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.
lol – not sure why we’re arguing – aside from the completely uneducated among the pro-aborts, most admit that an unborn child is a human.
If it is a human – should it matter whether or not it is dependent on its mother? No.
The real issue is – is it a choice or not to kill this baby?
Even the leaders of the pro-abort movement admit it is murder but say it’s a choice – and one apparently to only be made by a woman…or apparently a court order, or an underage girl’s parents who want to force an abortion on her – but don’t you dare let them “force” her to HAVE the baby no no, that’d be wrong!
…ugh.
Folks, this is a time to laugh. We don’t have to do battle with this joker. She’s got nothing. Bigger battles ahead.
gale says:
February 4, 2012 at 6:11 pm
even though i’m not educated at all in biology, or in anything really–
…it really shows, and this might be a bit too much of a pearl necklace I am throwing your way, but maybe you should start thinking about an education, cause right now the Emperor is looking less embarrassing romping around in his very expensive nothingness. And another little gem… try an anger management class. And I hope you have a very wonderful day, cause an atheist day seems very depressing, especially after reading the Hitchhiker’s guide.
Hmmm…who to trust, a microbiologist or a foaming at the mouth abortion zealot. Gee, that’s a toughie (scratching chin)…
Proabort: “But water isn’t wet! Wikipedia says so!”
Screencapping the stupid for later use (rubbing hands together) please keep her talking people.
p.s. Glad Dr. Nadal is on our side
Let’s look at parasites you don’t need microscopes to see. Meet Liberalus Americanus-attaches itself to the bloated host known as nanny state government and sucks it dry of entitlements until it dies, thereby committing suicide. Very evolved organism, isn’t it?
“Hmmm…who to trust, a microbiologist or a foaming at the mouth abortion zealot.”
MPQ, when the topic is science, that sure is a tough decision, isn’t it?
Eric,
Yeah, it is. I mean she did cite the Daily Beast as a source, all Dr. Nadal has is a couple degrees and stuff (plus he looks good in a lab coat.) Tee hee.
It secretes Neurokinin B containing phosphocholine molecules. This is the same mechanism used by parasitic nematodes to avoid detection by the immune system of their host.
I once read somewhere that chicken have feet. But, human beings have feet, too…but…we must all ACTUALLY be chickens, since we have similar structures!!!!!OMGZ!!
Love you Dr. Nadal! I am so glad you took the time to explain the biological FACTS. Too bad Gale couldn’t be bothered to read it. Or read it and scratched his/her head in confusion.
Gale, I am HIJACKED. HIJACKED I tell you. This male parasite climbed up into my uterus unbidden and hijacked my immune system. I am near death as I type this. I don’t know how I’ll ever survive. I can feel my parasite kicking even now. I know he is planning to kill me. Goodbye world…
Nah, just kidding. I am pregnant with my second son. A son I knew could be conceived when my husband and I had sex. He was created through MY ACTIONS. He is exactly where he is SUPPOSED to be. My uterus was designed to carry and nurture and protect my children. I am not dying. My body is doing what it is DESIGNED to do. Ovulation and conception mean I am HEALTHY. I am functioning as I am supposed to. My son is not a parasite. He is my child. He is bringing health benefits to me while I grow him in my womb.
The fact that you refer to an unborn child as a parasite speaks more to your sickness of soul rather than your inability to understand biology.
“thanks for replying, even though i’m not educated at all in biology, or in anything really– but i have to say YOU’RE WRONG AND YOU KNOW IT.”
Ah Gale. Thanks for the chuckle!
Dear Gale,
Thanks for tipping your mitt:
“HAVE AN ATHEIST DAY.”
That says it all about you. It isn’t about science and reason. It’s about hatred born of rage, and rage born of bitter disappointment in life. I’ve never met an atheist who wasn’t filled with rage, and that sort of rage distorts the lens of perspective.
It isn’t that I’m wrong and that I know it. I spent 16 years of my adult life in graduate and post-graduate training as a molecular and medical microbiologist. I know that I’m correct and quoted one of the most authoritative texts in biology, lest I be accused of making it up.
The fact is that you are wrong and can’t admit it because that would call forth maternal love in you, forcing you to confront the parental love every atheist has had missing in their life. (Now you’ll swear that you had perfect parents just to try and discredit what is well known in the spiritual life)
You need to justify your hatred by appealing to some supposed outside source, such as imaginary scientific sources and principles.
Atheists are usually gripped by a murderous hatred and rage, and it usually comes out as being pro-abortion. That’s because atheism is antithetical to God, who IS Love itself. The perfect targets are the perfect humans who have never sinned and call forth perfect love, which is itself sacrificial in nature.
That’s why you call these babies parasites, because they are unworthy of the love that your hate-filled atheism has choked off within you. Unwilling and unable to love, you respond with venomous rage toward those who place such demands on you, be they the babies, or the pro-lifers who defend them.
Whatever it is, sit with a priest or minister and vent your fury at God for not having protected you wherever it is that you think He let you down. Then begin the process of forgiving others and yourself. Hatred and atheism twist and distort people, and you are well on the way.
My prayers are with you.
The unfair generalization and mischaracterization of atheists I find rather insulting. Please remember for a moment that there are plenty of atheists and agnostics on our side, Doctor.
Gale, we’re praying for you to change your mind. As for atheists and agnostics being pro-life, that’s wonderful. I think eventually, you will come to recognize how much God loves you and especially if you are involved in pro-life work, you will grow closer to Him. This is what happened to Dr. Bernard Nathanson. He said he had joined the Catholic church in 1995 because the weight of his sins bothered him so much. Gale, may you find the peace of Christ’s love in your life, as Dr. Nathanson did.
Taken from the Philosophy of Abortion –
The world is divided into biophiliacs and necrophiliacs; lovers of life and lovers of death. Necrophilia attempts to destroy life.
Gale & CC, you have been in my prayers.
Gale,
If a parasite is not the same species as the host, how is a fetus a parasite?
Gale, that kind of anger is a dam holding in a flood of tears. You were not a parasite in your mother’s womb, whatever her troubles were. The children in your womb were a gift to you, not parasites. Having a child can make a woman who has tried so hard to be strong feel helpless and out of control. Having an abortion may have restored a sense of control, seemed to correct a mistake, but only by destroying an innocent being and your own compassionate heart. We are all subject to forces beyond our control, and telling ourselves there is no human being in our womb or no God in heaven or our own hearts will not make us superwomen, just super dead inside.
You can’t undo what’s been done but you can find forgiveness. You can work to protect the weak instead of destroying them. You can seek healing for yourself and others. If you choose, you can ask God to help you understand the incomprehensible pain you have gone through and let him take you into his wounded hands.
Maria, that was beautiful <3