well, I have been given the duty...

[Rudey]

It's not life...it's the potential for life.

-Rudey

Originally posted by KSig RC
FOR THE 'PRO-LIFERS' (as it were):

How do you justify the comment, "Life begins as soon as the sperm hits the egg," for yourself personally?

How do you justify this comment, then, as far as applicable laws? ie medically and legally defining an exact moment when 'life begins' since conception can't be pinpointed.

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The reason for these questions is that I'm more interested in the legal basis for abortion than each person's individual feelings (more on that later).

The reasoning here is that, with a legal definition of 'death' there are certain vital signs that can be pointed to and utilized - sensory perception/motor control, heartbeat, electrical activity in the brain, but obviously this becomes more complex when making a law with regard to a fetus.

For me, the bottom line (from a scientific standpoint) is still that the baby's INDIVIDUAL life begins with birth - until then, it is undeniably interwoven with the life of the mother. End the mother's life, and the baby will die unless immediately birthed (thus beginning its individual life!).

To say that life begins at conception is an appeal to an anonymous authority - a logical fallacy, which makes the statement an opinion. I don't think, personally, that we can base such a law on an opinion of when life begins - as such, I feel that the law should reflect this, and allow the right to choose.

Whether or not I personally want to have an abortion doesn't factor into my decision to allow others to choose. To me, this doesn't boil down to 'saving the babies' - it's a matter of the legality of limiting a person's rights.