"The real issue is not when a set of cells becomes 'human', but who gets to decide how to approach the question, and under what circumstances. Like many questions, there are gray areas, and clever rhetoric can make gray seem black in comparison to other colors." Bill D


And that is precisely why my very conservative brother, although he personally was against abortion, felt that the powers that be should have no role in the question, that the issue was between the parties concerned, i.e. a woman and her doctor. And her God, if that was her desire.

My brother has since died, but I really respected his views on it. He believed that law and the courts should be involved only in tangible things. For instance, love is an intangible- therefore law has no role in deciding who can love whom. Law has a role in it only when a being needs protection, whether because of being a minor or of being incapable of making an informed decision.

A person can apply that view to many things, and find that it would greatly simplify the legitimate role of the courts.