[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Iceman

The moment of successful conception is the begining of human life...I think I read that in a medical book somewhere? and for doctors to perform such acts I would think would violate they're hypo crit oath or something or maybe it's they are hypocrits?

Red is green and yellow white huh?

You think you read it somewhere? It would be nice if you actually showed something concrete. Doctors are as confused on this issue as anyone else. And it's 'Hypocratic Oath' after the ancient Greek doctor Hypocrates. And, if you actually read it, you will find that it says nothing about your beliefs. To top it off, you should be against it, as it is sworn before a false god.
http://evans-experientialism.freeweb...ippocrates.htm

Originally Posted by Peto

I'm also pro-choice for some scenarios such as rape, incest and medical conditions where the mother's life is at serious risk.

I'm not saying you're wrong, especially since I agree with your stance on this; but I always get my back up whenever someone emphatically "pro-life" uses that argument. Is a child concieved from rape or incest less alive? Does it not have the same rights?

Originally Posted by Radtgaeb

I can't stand it when people get 'surprised' by the fact that they're pregnant. Well, let's all do the math. You had sex, with that comes the risk of having a child (seeing is that IS the clearest purpose of human sexual relationships);

All of the above is true, but that doesn't change the fact that people are built to have sex, and what they do about it is their choice, not yours or mine.

if one isn't willing to become a parent, one shouldn't be out sexing up the town.

What one "should" or "shouldn't" be doing is none of your business. Or mine. It's easy to preach, but the last time I looked this was a free country.

Having an abortion is taking your lack of better judgement out on an innocent life. Religious or not, killing is wrong.

And that's the problem. The question is still whether abortion is killing or not. Your morality is not everyone's.

If I may quote Fred Thompson (who, despite dropping out, was in my mind the BEST Republican candidate since Reagan) "Roe vs. Wade was a bad lawsuit, and besides that; it was just bad medical science."

And Fred Thompson is neither a lawyer nor a doctor. His opinion is just that.

Originally Posted by August

Oh yeah? Someone punches a pregnant woman in the stomach and causes her to have a miscarriage. They'd soon be up on murder charges. Now how could that be if they "technically aren't children"?

Not really. The best you could hope for is Involuntary Manslaughter.

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Morally, what is the life growing in the womb?

Exactly: the key word here is "morally", and as everyone on both sides of the political fence here likes to say, "You can't legislate morality."

The problem perhaps is not the thought of abortion in itself but the proceedure of aborting. Partial birth abortions is brutal.

Yes it is. On the other hand, Roe v. Wade specifically mentions the first trimester only. The so-called 'partial-birth' abortions involve a baby which is very close to being born anyway.

Now that I've sort-of addressed my take on other peoples' opinions, I'll give my own.

My first question is: what is a right? Is it something 'allowed' by the government, or is it something inherent to us as individuals? Most Americans will tell you it's the latter, but they tend to change their minds depending on what 'right' we're talking about.

Personally I feel abortion is wrong, but the problem I see is that the only reason to make it illegal again is because it is indeed murder. But, before you can declare it murder, you have to define all the ramifications. August mentioned the 'punching the pregnant woman' problem, and he's right; today, if that happens, the very people who support abortion will be up in arms. They seem to want to have it both ways. But so does the other side. If you make abortion illegal because it is murder, then what happens to the pregnant woman who has a miscarriage because she strained herself moving a couch? Extreme and unlikely, you might say; but you can bet that the first time it happens lawyers will get involved, and it will be, if not involuntary manslaughter, at least negligent homicide. And then you'll have the case of the woman who miscarries, and her ex-boyfriend accuses her of killing the child intentionally. What if he wins? All these things are inded extreme, but they will happen.

I'm old enough to remember when abortion was illegal before, and there were a significant number of doctors willing to risk the repercussions. There also were numbers of women having them done by non-doctors, the so-called "back-alley abortions"; when one of them would ocassionally die and it made the headlines, the self-proclaimed "moral" people could be heard shouting "it's only what she deserved!" You think I'm exagerating, but I was there and it did happen, and fairly regularly.

Morally, I too am against abortion. Legally, I think things should stay exactly as they are, because I also realize that it is my moral belief, which not everyone agrees with, and as has been said, you can't legislate morality. If a woman disagrees, it's her body, her baby, her right and her decision, and no-one else's; not yours, not mine.