How is a miscarriage fundamentally different than an abortion?

abortion is a premeditated and deliberate act of violence that senselessly takes a life so that a "deadbeat mom" can escape the responsibility for her sexual behavior and get out of the "inconvenience" of being responsible for a child

Intent.

Generally speaking, someone who has an abortion *doesn't want a baby*. Someone who has a miscarriage does. So they are likely to be upset about different things when their pregnancy ends.

And while I believe a fetus (or embryo) at the stage where most miscarriages and most abortions occur (afaik, first trimester, and I think usually in the first 6 weeks or so) is not yet a person in any morally meaningful sense, it is a *potential* person. So someone who has a miscarriage is mourning that lost potential, the future child that they wanted to have. Especially since, well, afaik a lot of women who have one miscarriage are likely to have more miscarriages on subsequent pregnancies, so it's not guaranteed that they can usefully "try again".

I would probably not tell anyone who either had an abortion, or had a miscarriage, that it was "just a clump of cells". I would, instead, try to figure out what they were upset about (guilt? Lost opportunities? Just stress?), and soothe them appropriately. Which might, for *either* one, include some appropriately worded variant of "I know this is hard, but it wasn't really a child yet, just the potential for one", depending on what exactly they're upset about.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom's miscarriage. I hope she recovers, and I hope she succeeds if she tries again.

It could be that someone is more likely to bring up the FACT that it is just a clump of cells in the case of abortion because in that case the procedure is intentionally performed, and (a misplaced) guilt might therefor be more natural, as someone may feel responsible (along with also feeling sadness that they aren't getting a baby, at least not from that pregnancy, if the case is that they changed their mind and want a baby), and therefor it is resonable to bring up how, morally speaking, insignificant and trivial an abortion is, since it is only a clump of cells and nothing more than just that, as a way to relieve guilt.

Now in the case of miscarriage, the individual might feel just as sad that the pregnancy won't result in them getting a baby, but likely not feel as personally guilty or responsible since it was out of their control, so bringing up that it was just a clump of cells (while as equally scientifically accurate) seems a bit more redundant to say, and doesn't fill the same function as the case might be in an abortion. Now of course, if they show any sign of a misconception thinking that a sentient being had died, it is reasonable to remind them that it was just a clump of cells and not a conscious being.

And no, in neither of the cases would it be evil to remind them that it is just a clump of cells.

So, in conclusion they are obviously both just clumps of cells (with many qualities similar with parasites) but because of this thing called context, it is more likely to be relevant to bring up the fact in the case of abortion.

Update: A fetus is a life? Well, no shít, Sherlock. You want to know what else is alive? Grass. Have you ever mowed a lawn? Instead of saying a bunch of obvious crap, you could have actually bothered explaining why it is that life is the trait that causes moral value. Since I value sentience, not life, your comment isn't the 'gotcha' moment as it maybe was intended to be.

You make the valid point that if a pregnancy is wanted it's very different emotionally than a pregnancy that isn't wanted. But I've had several miscarriages and actually took some comfort in my doctor saying it wasn't yet a fetus and was "just a clump of cells", or an embryo, not yet to the fetal stage of development.

A miscarriage rarely causes much pain, but abortions really hurt. I was given something to make me feel "out of it," but it didn't help. It made me feel sick and sort of out of control and it still hurt like hell. People don't say "it's just a clump of cells" to a woman who is upset by a miscarriage because they assume she really wanted the baby.

I am sorry for the difficult time you are all going through, but the thing is that her chance for having another baby isn't over, and she can always try again whenever she feels is ready. I believe a miscarriage or an unfortunate accident of any kind simply means that something just wasn't meant to be... or maybe it wasn't supposed to be the right time for your mother to be a new parent again and it was just the universe's way of telling her that. It's unfortunate, but it happens.

I'm sorry if this sounds a bit unsympathetic but for myself as a person death doesn't really upset me because to be the deceased will always be around us in some form or another. Be it their energy, their souls, or whatever else it is that's out there. I've personally had experiences with this but people can believe in whatever they like.

Remind your mother that she shouldn't blame herself if she does. If she wants to be a mother again someday, then she still can.

She did not decide to get rid of the pregnancy

Abortion is sometimes a medical necessity to prevent unneeded suffering, while miscarriages are not.

To understand pro-choicers you have to remove the importance of the unborn entirely and only consider the woman and her willingness to go forward with the pregnancy. Once you remove humanity from the equation and just make it about selfish desire everything becomes clear.

The reason they can be upset about miscarriage is because the woman might have wanted the baby, while in the case of abortion the woman wanted it gone, so by default everything went as planned.

It's unfortunate she couldn't have her choice.