When is a Human a Human? (Abortion)

I was listening to the radio this evening, and a talk show host was discussing a new law passed - in Missouri, I think - that would define a baby as being human at the moment of conception. He argued that this was pushing one religion's moral view on everyone, and while he admitted he didn't know for sure when a fetus 'became alive' he thought that the idea it was at the moment of conception was ridiculous. He mentioned views from various religions, philosophers and scientists over the years, and it got me thinking about how I would defend my personal belief on this subject.

It is my firm belief that life begins at conception. The moment a sperm fertilizes an egg the process of building a human baby begins. Neither a sperm or an egg left on its own will do that, and setting that process in motion seems pretty indicative to me. There is still the possibility that natural processes will keep the fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, and as many women have sadly experienced things will often go wrong even later and result in a miscarriage. I take that to be just like accidents later in life: sin in the world has resulted in imperfections which lead to untimely deaths, as all of us have experienced in the loss of friends or loved ones.

Intentionally taking that growing human life, then, is the same as murder in my book. However, I do understand that not everyone agrees with me - so here is my reasoning for having abortion (at any stage) made illegal:

- Human life is sacred
- It is a travesty to take human life without just cause (punishment for certain crimes, for example)
- We should do everything possible to prevent accidentally taking a human life; the death penalty even should be reserved for only the most heinous crimes, and when guilt is absolutely certain
- There are even those who would posit that capital punishment should *never* be used, because of how sacred life is
- We can't prove empirically when human life begins
- Because we can't prove when life begins, we should not allow elective abortion at any point to make sure we are protecting all human life

With that said, I can see exceptions to this in the following cases:

- Risk to the mother and child: If there is a high chance that bringing a baby to term would lead to the death of both the mother and child, then it makes sense to sacrifice one to save the other. Give the choice, then, to the mother (or the father, if the mother is incapacitated).

- Risk to the mother alone: If there is a high chance that bringing the baby to term would lead to the death of the mother, then a choice is needed. Personally I would risk it, I think, as I trust in God and His mercy and power... but I can't force that on others.

- Rape: Honestly here I think it is only fair to the innocent baby to bring it to term, despite horrible circumstances. The baby could be given up for adoption if raising it would be too traumatic to the mother, but I don't see any reason to punish a child for the crime of someone else. I've been told, though, that letting the result of such a violation grow inside a woman is devastating - and since I don't have any personal experience in that area I could again see letting this be up to the choice of the mother.

I am aware that the topic of abortion is a very divisive one, and while I am pretty settled in my opinions here I would welcome comments from those on all sides of this issue. As always, feel free to post your thoughts or questions!