To the editor:
In the Jan. 29 edition, Ed Bednar wrote, "The truth is from the moment of conception, a woman is in a symbiotic relationship with another human individual." ("Faith judged on what one does.") The truth is this shows an incomplete understanding of the word "symbiotic."
Symbiosis is defined as "involving interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association generally denoting a mutually beneficial relationship." That's not what pregnancy is.
There are many examples of symbiosis in nature where both parties do benefit; lichen, corrals and probiotic gut bacteria for example. In each case, both creatures benefit directly from each other. This is called mutualistic symbiosis. However, a human fetus gives nothing to its host/mother. True, in many cases the mother receives emotional comfort, but that's not always the case, and in the circumstance of medical abortion, it frequently specifically is not the case; and that's often the point.
There are many types of symbiosis in nature where the host of a symbiont does not gain from the relationship. For example, commensalism is a symbiotic relationship where the host is unharmed as the symbiont relies on the continued survival of its accommodating organism, but the host would do just as well absent its charge. Fleas, mosquitoes and barnacles rely on a host that gains nothing and is often only superficially burdened by its piggy-backing annoyance. Is it a symbiotic relationship? Technically, yes, but you certainly wouldn't begrudge a humpback scraping against a rock to dislodge a barnacle or a dog chewing at its fleas.
Actually, in nature, most symbiotic relationships are of a parasitic character. A parasite is a symbiont that not only uses a host, it causes that host actual harm. Nematodes, cordyceps fungus, and the tongue eating louse all depend on finding a host and taking it for everything it can get while slowly depleting the host of its very life. One could argue that many pregnancies are parasitic in nature.
You might counter that a fetus is not like these symbionts as it is growing from the mother's own tissue, from her very cells. Yes, that's true. It's also true of a ruptured appendix, of skintags, and of cancer. But if a patient were to present with any of those conditions, we wouldn't argue that they have to carry it to term.
Look, I'm not saying that every pregnancy is like a cancer or that they are all parasitic. And even if they were, I wouldn't argue they should all be medically removed. Heck, maybe you have a tapeworm that you're very fond of and you wouldn't dream of using an emetic to purge it. That's your decision. It's your option. It's your choice.
I would never insist on taking away your right to make that choice. It's your life. Live it how you choose. But if any woman I know has a wart she wants to burn off, I'm not going to stand in her way; and frankly neither should you.
J. David Core
Toronto