There is a universal moral code that include prohibitions against murder and slavery. Then there are personal codes by which each of us govern our own behavior. Those have enormous variability and are essentially subjective.
You understand I don't hold these beliefs anymore? I hope so, so now I'll try to fit my old liberal cap back on to try to explain, 'cause most of this will only make sense on the surface.
The liberal view I held didn't differentiate the humanity of the baby, so if you believed it was a mass of cells you could have an abortion. It wasn't murder because the baby wasn't viable and (remember I listened to the staunchly pro murder mainstream media) different people could hold different beliefs about the humanity of the "mass of cells." Also, think about the number of denominations that are now saying that abortion can be justified. The Lutherans (of which I was practicing at that time) were making every attempt to justify that decision, the Methodists were also doing so. My change in view regarding this horrific procedure came prior to leaving liberalism behind.