[quote]Well I don't like people. So I probably don't have to worry about that.[/quote] All good. We all go through that phase. I certainly did. Eventually you'll find people you do like and that's not as bad of a thing as it seems now.

[quote]I'm not disagreeing with the entire reply, but: Setting how I feel about abortion completely aside, I don't see how the mother's [i]intention[/i] should be relevant to it should be considered "alive" or not.[/quote] I don't believe it is. The fetus is always considered "alive". It's a matter of when it's considered human and [i]that's[/i] where the mother's intent comes into play. When the mother isn't actively terminating it (which happens when it's a fetus), it's considered to be human since the mother is still showing an intention of carrying to term. As such it's abuse when she puts the fetus in danger via drugs/alcohol, and it's considered a double homicide if the pregnant woman is killed. Keep in mind I don't believe all states necessarily consider killing the fetus to be a murder... For example [url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/woman-cut-fetus-womb-won-charged-murder-article-1.2164116]this[/url] woman cut the fetus out of a pregnant woman and [i]wasn't[/i] charged with murder. I'm ok with that, as awful as it was. I feel like an argument could be made either way and I can see the logic behind it.

Well said. The irony is that that the people who protest the loudest against abortion are also against these common sense....public health measures to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies....and therefore the desire to terminate pregnancies. Probably because their agenda isn't the welfare of the children....but the wish to control other people and their sexuality.

[quote]Nobody is going to point out that the mother's intent is a huge, important variable here? If you kill a mother that has not yet aborted her child, yes it's treated as a double homicide as she, as of that point, was still intending to carry to term (as evidenced by the fact the fetus was not yet terminated). If a mother is carrying to term and proceeds to drink/endanger her fetus otherwise, yes it's abuse as she's actively damaging the eventual life as opposed to simply terminating it. And while I'm personally not necessarily in favor of late/partial birth abortions, it's not like banning abortion has ever helped since women seek them regardless. You want to limit abortions? Educate safe sex practices instead of abstinence (which has been shown to not work countless times), and make contraceptives more available via clinics, high school/college nurses offices, and other such means. Studies have shown that unwanted pregnancies drop significantly when folks are better educated about sex and provided with a means of preventing pregnancies. The price of a few condoms is much cheaper than providing government help to new children anyway.[/quote] Perfect