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The problem with that argument is that you can define person however you want. There is no scientific or empirically verifiable meaning of the word. Most philosophers define person as "an entity that is aware of itself and can plan for the future." On those grounds a fetus is not a person. Of course, neither is a newborn infant but other than Obama, very few people are pushing for legalized infanticide. We have a rational duty to hold logically consistent beliefs so we have to either drop support for abortion or start supporting legalized infanticide.

Alternative, we can base personhood on a scientifically verifiable concept: being a member of the species Homo sapiens. In that case abortion should be prohibited because a fetus is a member of the species Homo sapiens. That's scientific fact.

I am a Fiscal Conservative, Pro-Choice and non-religious and often amused at the Religious Rights’ so-called “secular” arguments against abortion. I’m not the best at articulation, so I will leave behind a link to Brian Elroy McKnight’s website:

http://www.elroy.net/ehr/abortionanswers.html

I highly recommend reading his arguments if the Right truly wants to start putting together airtight secular/scientific counter against the Pro-Choice agenda. Until somebody can ‘prove’ to me a fetus has the exact same rights as a full human being (most will agree rights of a fully conscious human being come first in any hypothetical situation), I will remain Pro-Choice. Safe, legal abortion is a necessary evil for the greater good of a world suffocating under overpopulation. If you truly want to stop abortion, stay conservative with your values, but be liberal with birth control and sex education. Whether you like it or not - if you truly believe this is murder we are talking about - you must earn the respect of the left on this issue with compromise and a calm, rational arguments. Otherwise, you’ll be written off as another wacko fundie, which does no good for the baby. Turning the anti-abortion agenda into a power issue for our party only can, and has, greatly harm the movement. I’m worried the party is going to split over this…