Thank you, I realize we will not always agree on all subjects but at least we can all reason together. It may surprise you but I do not consider myself a conservative even a fiscal conservative. I do believe however, that liberal or conservative - left or right - we all have an obligation to be fiscally responsible for our nation and our children.

I disagree with a lot of the things you say on your blog, but I appreciate your ability to reason and argue with some sense. It is refreshing to actually find someone who thinks with their brain and basis their ideas and decisions on logic, rather than belief.

I believe that the mother’s right to life supercedes that of the fetus until birth. The decision concerning the appropriate time to terminate the pregnancy, or whether to terminate, should belong solely to the physician and the mother in cases wherein the mother’s life is at risk.

On abortion in which the mother’s physical health is not in significant peril I fully support the right to terminate before the advent of brain function in the fetus.

One cannot argue simply that the destruction of any life affects us all, there is no evidence to support such a claim. However, one may easily argue that a human life should not be ended by a third-party on the same basis that homicide cannot be condoned. The quintessential traits that make us human include the ability to be rational, emotional, and acting beings. However, a fetus cannot in any known case consciously do these things before 16 weeks, in most fetuses brain activity develops even later. Before the point in which the fetus develops these specific traits of humanity, I would argue that it is not an individual “person” with the same value as any mature human, but rather simply a chunk of tissues.

I do not have the time to review and edit this post as I would like, but I believe it presents an accurate representation of my opinions.

I am not one who would confuse religion with ethics as following the one true God there is no contradiction or confusion.

Life is a blessing not to be terminated in the name of convenience for the mother. That said, God has granted us our free will to do and to believe as we wish, right or wrong. If our Creator had not granted us this then what would be the point to our lives on this earth? Abortion is not a religous issue it is an issue of whether we as a society respect for life or not.

When a life is destoyed it affects all of us. It tears at the fabric of what connects us to each other as a society and cheapening the value of life reducing it to a base commodity product. What organizations like Planned Parenthood do not tell young women prior to terminating a pregnancy is the emotional scars that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.

I wonder what would happen to planned Parenthood and the abortion industry if interviews of women who had, had abortions 6 months to one year earlier were put in front of all women considering abortion.

I fear you confuse ethics with religion. Religion can be either ethical or unethical. The classic example of an unethical religious belief is the advocacy of the God given right to Crusade, Holy War or Jihad. Religious belief is for an individual and should not be imposed upon society.

What scientific, cultural, societal, and historical reasons are there to say that a human life at 17 weeks deserves more protection than at 16 weeks–or that 25-week babies deserve more protection that 24-week babies?

Or are you just pulling numbers out of a hat to fit your political ideology?

As for a young women’s right to have a child – I will stick with John Locke and Thomas Jefferson – “We hold these truths to be self-evident”.

You say she still has the absolute right to kill her fetus from 16 to 24 weeks (but she should think it over first). Why 24 weeks? Do think the fetus begins to have rights at 24 weeks?

You say that fetal abnormalities are a good reason to kill a fetus. Many people must agree, because 90% of babies diagnosed with Downs Syndrome are aborted. Why do you believe a person with Downs Syndrome has less rights than a person without that condition? And you have the gall to call selective abortion “natural selection!” There’s nothing natural about it. This is the “natural selection” of eugenics, and we all know where that went.

Another bizarre absolute assertion with no basis: Every woman has the right to bear a child. Really? Does every man have the right to father a child–even if he lacks the physical ability?

You call this “An Ethical Perspective”? You give no basis for your ethics. These are just your personal views. You base these claims on no authority, nor even logical reasoning.

I prefer to base my ethical view of life on unchanging truths: God made mankind in His image, and He gave it value.