[thoughtomator]

I agree with your approach. Where we part ways is the question of when human life begins. I don't think there is any room for opinion or interpretation on this - it is long-established, proven, hard scientific fact that human life begins at conception. Without acknowledgment of this fact, I would think about the situation precisely as you do.

But inconvenient as the fact may be, I cannot be honest with myself and deny it. Life begins at conception, and that's reality, no matter how inconvenient or intractable a problem that may present in crafting a solution to the abortion issue.

[tpaine]

"it is long-established, proven, hard scientific fact that human life begins at conception."
-t mator-


Of course 'life begins'.. This is a given, as we agreed in the first few posts..

We disagreed here where you claimed:

"it therefore follows that the right to life exists at the moment of conception."

And I, answered at #20:

Not so. The legal consequenses of such a theory would be ludicrous. -- In effect, all fertile females from conception to viablity could be charged with murder for aborting..

[u-89]

I agree with you that life begins at conception and can not see how people honestly believe otherwise. Most likely the denial of the obvious is a convenient way to soothe the troubled soul of the hardened heart. But whatever the case may be the fact remains that there is a large portion of our society that does not see the issue as we do and since our government, when you boil it down is created by "we the people" and formed by consensus we somehow have to come to terms on this issue in a way most can live with.

One society's murder is another's lawful proceeding. In India a window might be thrown on the funeral pyre of her dead husband. If we moved there we would not like the custom but we would have to live with it. Likewise here we have a clear vision on life in the womb but half our countrymen do not. We can only change the law once men's hearts have been changed and not until then. In the mean time the best we can hope for is to get the issue back to the state level where it belongs where local societies can work it out for themselves.