As a liberal, I'm rather alone in that I believe that abortion shouldn't be regarded any different than infanticide, and the distinction drawn between 1 second before and after passing through the birth canal is truly arbitrary and carries with it a frightening reality about the perception of life by some people.
"Where life begins" isn't a philosophical question. It's a scientific question and then proceeding that a moral question. There are right and wrong answers for these questions. Sperm and ovum are not alive, but become a living organism upon fertilization and then incubation. In that period between fertilization and incubation is where the tissue and cells go from being not alive to being alive. As soon as it becomes human, it becomes a part of a species that can achieve homeostasis, can metabolize, can grow, can adapt, can respond to stimuli, and can reproduce.
Aside from that, abortions,
except in cases of rape, are a supreme act of irresponsibility and cowardice. If you don't want or have the ability to raise a child, don't have sex without protection (I'd never use less than three: pill, condom, spermacide). Pretty simple, right? Apparently not.
Quote:
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Approximately 74 to 95 percent of teenage pregnancies are unintended. They account for one-quarter of all accidental pregnancies in the U.S. each year (Advocates for Youth, 2004; AGI, 1999).
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http://www.plannedparenthood.org/new...nancy-6239.htm
People need to learn to be responsible. That's the lesson to take away from most abortions.
I'm not saying it isn't difficult for the mother to abort, of course, but why do you think it's difficult? Aside from the physical pain, it stands to reason that it may be guilt. In my HS, there were several abortions, and each of them felt extreme guilt over aborting the child. I did a paper back in school where I remember speaking to several women who had abortions who explained that they wished they either hadn't aborted the child or wish they had been responsible in the first place.