[dasviper]

Here's a brief explanation of what and why I believe.

I believe that you cannot hope to define a point in fetal development at which a fetus is "alive", "human", "conscious", what have you. From the moment of conception, the fetus is a living human being with all the rights and privileges of you or I.

Now, I recognize that not everyone shares that belief. That’s terrific. Far be it from me to impose my beliefs on your body. THAT’S NOT WHAT I WISH TO DO! Your body doesn’t enter into the equation! As soon as you accept the fact that the fetus is a human, the rights of the mother to mess about with her body absolutely pale into oblivion relative to the right of the child to live! So many of the whole pro-life/pro-abortion skirmishes become moot when you realize that its not a matter of the mother’s life, its a matter of the child’s life.

Re: rape, incest, etc... I can understand that these assaults are horribly scarring, painful events for a woman. However, aborting the child will not make the memory of the event disappear. For nine months, the mother will have to literally carry around a reminder of a traumatic event. I do not envy this burden. Once again, this is a non question. Would you kill another individual to avoid that burden?

RU-486? Merely a more sanitized form of abortion, but no less despicable. Again,as soon as you accept the life of the fetus, so many other issues become trivial.

I am not a religious individual. I do not participate in anthrax hoaxes, nor do I bomb clinics. I am a white male student. I read, I study, I discuss, I vote. I believe that pregnancy is not just an avoidable nine-month hassle that women are unfortunately shackled with. It is part of our nature that we must realize is the beginning of a living being from the moment that being is conceived.