I have read, with great interest, the very carefully parsed and nuanced arguments here. And I agree with very important parts of Bruce's, and Amos', positions. Bruce reduces the argument to a very fundamental position of understanding with regard to the "pro life" (I am not very comfortable with that term, prefer "anti abortion") motivations. Amos, comes at it with a wonderful understanding of the woman's ability to have control over her life and decisions. These two conflicting (but not wholly conflicting) positions are the quandary that left leaning but thinking folks like myself find ourselves in. John Hardly sums it up very similar to how I do. The bottom line for blue collar folks like myself is, "When does life begin, and when is the soul or sense of being present in this new life?". It seems that if we cannot answer this, then we should be very cautious until we can. Amos, my good friend (said with all sincerity), it seems like you seek to dehumanize the whole argument with the scientific term "zygote" and I understand that. But for those of us who are less sophisticated, that is the problem. Whether a miracle of the Greatest One, or a miracle of Nature, the new life is still a miracle. So far, I have laid my misgivings aside, as the field I work in causes me to be exposed, up close and personal, to the women who are lost and most affected. Their options are few, and I feel that taking choices away is like society taking another piece of control of their lives away. They are valiant in their efforts to raise their children, and live with dignity, and I feel we must trust them to make the right choices for themselves and their circumstances. But, and this is a big but, I cannot help but be very fearful at the inherent danger of where this thinking leads. I cannot help but have fear that we are taking a life. I have seen elements of this conversation that seems to lead down the path of making decisions for "decisionally incapacitated" and that frightens me. Mankind has shown time and again that it abuses these types of ideas, especially when we get into the "purity of thought and ideals" area.