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Soleron on 23 August 2008
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akuma587 said:

Well I look at two landmarks as pretty important when determining where "life" begins.

Its not at conception. For awhile you are nothing more than the equivalent of skin cells I pull out from the inside of my cheek.

One strong case is when brainwave activity begins, around the 10th (?) week of pregnancy.

Another strong case is when the fetus can actually survive on its own outside the womb, which can vary based upon the baby, but is generally in the 5-8 month range. Obviously the baby needs a lot more postnatal care if it is only 5 months.

Drawing legal lines in the sand based on those statements has got to be wrong, though. Saying, "Today it is legal to abort for this reason but tomorrow it isn't" is absurd because nothing in the development cycle is sudden (it's all smooth transitions) and having the 'average' time as law doesn't take account of the fact that a large number are different from the average.

I think those kind of facts should go together with medical opinion and a case-by-case assesment of the parents' and foetus's situation to decide when is acceptable and when is not. It's very easy to say "12 weeks or bust" but abortion is a less clear-cut issue than that.