Abortion II

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Lief Erikson

The foetus may fit that definition, but by no means is it appropriate to refer to it as a parasite, because it's a human.

Yes AND a parasite. Perhaps a cute wonderful innocent bundle of joy parasite but a parasite no less technically. An endoparasite to be specific since they are truly parasitic only when they live within their host.

Infants after birth (and children right up through adolescence, most of the time) very nearly fit this "parasite" definition too.

Not really. Just because my 10 year old expects me to feed her pizza for dinner and wants me to buy her stuff she sees at the mall doesn’t make her a true parasite. I think you know that as well as I. She still has the ability to survive on her own if I (her “host”) expelled her (from my home not my womb…) and refused to provide her with sustenance and shelter. She could go over to my neighbors and theyd give her food and let her sleep there or she could call the police and theyd take her to a relatives house or put her with a foster family or something. Or she could just eat out of a garbage can if need be (wouldn’t be the first time…).

A TRUE parasite HAS to depend on its host for survival and relies on its host COMPLETELY for sustenance and protection and most importantly, except in the cases of social parasitism, there is a PHYSICAL connection between the host and the parasite through which the parasite gains its sustenance. Just like, say, an umbilical chord…