There probably isn't a subject that is more polarizing than the abortion debate. So what the heck, here is my two cents.

First you have the"it's my body, my right", crowd. They would say that the women's right to choose, to control her own body is paramount. It is not a baby or a person until it's born and until that time she has the right to choose" what, when, and how".

Then there is the "abortion is murder" crowd. Their position is just that simple. To them life begins at conception. Any attempt to terminate a pregnancy at any point is no different than say shooting an 8 year old.

So who is right? Both extremes ignore important realities of people and societies.  A seven or eight month old fetus sure looks like a baby to me. And partial birth abortion, where a fetus/baby is killed as it emerges from the mother during birth, well sorry, I have a tough time accepting that. Why not wait a couple weeks and just call it a post birth abortion? same difference right? Condoning the killing of any form of human life, for what ever reason does say some thing about us.

But  how can you apply the same standard to a tiny blob of cells, that you apply to an eight month old fetus. Is it a potential life? Yes, but so is every sperm cell, every egg cell. Maybe every guy who masturbates, every girl who doesn't try to get pregnant every month, is also a murderer? There is no guarantee that every conception will end in a living baby. 

It comes down to a quality of life issue for us as individuals and for society. We need to reduce unwanted pregnancies with education and  instill a sense of value and respect for the living, even if it is unborn.  But we also must respect the effects of unwanted pregnancies on  individuals and society. Is forcing an unwilling mother, or drug addict to carry a baby to term really a good idea. What about the downside of an unwanted child who ends up being emotionally abuse? The fall out from this is much worse than an abortion. When we send  adult soldiers to war, knowing that some will die, is this not excepting the death of some human life for our convenience. The convenience of maintaining the life style we are accustom to?

What makes humans uniquely human? for me it is our level of brain function. so it seems reasonable to allow abortions unrestricted until the fetus has brain function. After that any threat to the mothers health should take precedence. And I would never ask any women to carry a child that was the result of rape or incest.

 I realise this is a short treatment of a very complex issue. Hopefully it is adequate to make my point.