[Exelus]

DAMN this is a huge thread! I knew that the whole abortion thing would get people talking, but WOW.

For the record, Josh, you've actually changed my stance on this slightly. I'm now less pro-choice from hearing your argument. And really I think that everyone else here is forgetting the original premise of your post. Everyone keeps coming up with all these "scenarios" that somehow prove you wrong, but they fail to realize that you're offering an alternative. The only case where abortion is preferable to adoption is where one or both parties will be mortally harmed in the birth of the baby. Physical defects, birth complications, whatever.

The whole rape thing I'm not sure about. Yeah, I'm sure it would be emotionally damaging to carry a child for 9 months. But you can always put him up for adoption later, and viola, you SAVED A LIFE. However, I do understand that this may not be the case, and asking a girl to carry that physical, emotional, and mental weight around for 9 months isn't something to take lightly.

I still think this comes down to whether we consider the embryo to be a child, or to have potential to become a child. If the embryo is seen as a child, then abortion is bad in virtually every respect. In that case, Abortion = Murder. But if the embryo is only seen as having the POTENTIAL to become a child, then abortion isn't so bad, and it's easy to see why so many people are pro choice.

And I don't really have an opinion on what an embryo is. I know science says it's just an embryo and not a child during the first trimester, but the more you think about it, the more you begin to ask WHAT your definition of a living being is.