Human zygote.
(Half of all pregnancies spontaneously abort, usually in the early embryonic stage. http://www.emcom.ca/health/abortion.shtml)
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Dear John,
Unless we draw a moral line that falls short of "absolutely, positively no abortion," then others, by reasonable extension, can draw their line where they see fit, within the limits of law.
Despite your opposition to abortion, I would venture that you and your lovely wife would approve abortion if your 12 year old grand-daughter were raped by Willie Horton.
Wouldn't you?
Abortion is an ugly, sinful, damaging thing. It destroys human life - although, arguably, not the life of a human person.
For me, the key question is this: Is abortion, at bottom, a venial sin or a mortal one?
Are you "the one" to draw the line for everyone?
I am not.
Such lines are multiple and appropriately drawn in different places. (It also begs mention that many conscionable do not see abortion as sinful in any way.)
The law should accommodate this spectrum of views - at least until the law is overturned by democratic process.
In the meantime, every individual is free to operate as conscience requires.
I encourage you to recall Merton's antidote to the ravages of neo-Puritanism.
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton
"Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” (Emphasis mine.)
Pax on both houses
Alan
PS Not only do pro-life advocates acknowledge that women who have aborted fetuses should not be legally punished, they are also aware that the destruction of early-stage human fetuses is always preferable to the destruction of living, breathing human beings. Consider: If you were to enter a burning building and have only enough time to rescue one infant -- or a cryogenically frozen flask containing ten billion embryos -- where does your moral obligation lie? Anyone who saves the flask and not the infant is a moral pervert on whom opprobrium will be rightly heaped. Yes, abortion is sinful behavior. But often, abortion is a venial sin, not a mortal one. (The Greek etymology of "hamartia" commonly translated in the New Testament as "sin." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamartia)
'Transformation': Perry now opposes all abortion, even in rape or incest cases
By NBC's Carrie Dann
OSCEOLA, Iowa -- In what the Texas governor calls a "transformation," Rick Perry on Tuesday said that he has reversed his acceptance of abortion in some severe circumstances, saying that he now opposes the procedure even in cases of rape and incest.
Perry said the change came after seeing the "Gift of Life" film produced by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He told an audience of Iowans at Clark Electric Co-op in Osceola that he was moved by the story of a woman who introduced the film during a screening earlier this month in Des Moines.
"She said, 'I am the product of rape.' And she said 'my life has worth,'" Perry said of his exchange with the woman. "It was a powerful moment."
The Texas governor made the statement in response to a question from Joshua Verwers, a pastor at Full Faith Christian Center in Chariton, who noted that Perry had recently signed a stringent Personhood USA pledge that urges signatories to oppose abortion "without exception and without compromise."
Candidates Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have also signed the pledge.
Verwers said after the event that he was initially skeptical of Perry's flip on the position but that the governor's answer was "too perfect" and "sincere" to have come from anywhere but Perry's own heart.
"I do believe it was a sincere answer and that he has converted his position and that he would support personhood," the pastor told reporters.
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Human Embryo Implanting
Five Week Old Human Embryo
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