When a House Republican wrote a federal abortion ban with exceptions only for "forcible" rape, and it was co-sponsored by the Republican Vice Presidential nominee as well as an IA Republican Congressman. The bills author then raised the ante by claiming rape cannot cause pregnancy, the Republican Senate nominee in ND raised it further by saying he would pass a federal abortion ban with NO rape exception, and the Republican Senate nominee in CT raised it yet more by saying taxpayer funded religious hospitals can refuse rape victims "morning after" pills, with the stipulation non-religious hospitals most provide it for "emergency rape" (but not, obviously, "NON-emergency rape.")

You brought in rape when your Vice Presidential nominee, 4 of your Senate nominees (including an incumbent) and 3 of your House incumbents referenced it.


I understand there are significant differences; my point was there is no evidence they amount to a being.


No, I am saying we do not know; inability to identify a precise cutoff point is precisely the problem. I doubt anyone believes newborns were not beings the previous day in the womb, but there is ZERO evidence a newly fertilized unimplanted zygote is a being: When is the transition? How can we be certain of the answer? It precedes birth, so it increasingly likely as birth approaches, hence late-term abortion bans are on much firmer ground than blanket ones, provided they contain exceptions to save the mothers life. Viability is a practically convenient (if still ambiguous) cutoff; it is reasonable (though unprovable) to say cells that cannot survive physical detachment from a parent are not distinct beings, and those that can are.

Yet it remains an educated guess, and guessing with peoples lives, not only literally but in childbearing/rearings impact on health and wellbeing, should be avoided. A fetus may or may not be a person, but pregnant women DEFINITELY are, and definite people have priority over possible people. As certainty a fetus is a being approaches certainty a woman is the balance shifts, but it is decidely uneven prior to the 20th week of pregnancy, and neither you, I nor the general public has the right or power to make our personal beliefs a thumb on the scale of anothers life. What happened to keeping Big Brother off our backs and out of our lives/wallets?


Prove none of her tissue is being removed; prior to birth a fetus is part of her body in every meaningful sense. Regardless, citing various other government intrusions into our bodies that I oppose just as strongly reinforces rather than undermines my position here.


Well, I can at least agree on that; Denver does owe them a big sloppy kiss for conveniently losing to Detroit but beating Chokeland so we won the division.