Do you have children, tpaine? We've had three, and four months ago we were blessed with our first grandchild. Babies don't have a concrete, or certainly an abstract, concept of "self" until they are months old. My wife and I still remember when the "light" went on in our second child, and he showed some evidence of self-awareness, where he realized he and we were separate entities. With such metaphysical considerations, are you suggesting that parents be allowed to kill their live, born, babies up until some time as they give evidence of self-awareness? Maybe you don't believe the Bible, but David wrote in the Psalms that God "formed my inward parts" while still in his mother's womb, and Paul said that God had chosen him to be an apostle to the church "from my mother's womb" -- imagine that: God choosing someone's life destiny and role even before they are born. There may not be conclusive proof of when a soul enters a person, but isn't it the better choice to decide that since we cannot know for sure, it's best not to make these distinctions at all, and respect life regardless of its stage along the human continuum?