I feel that it’s not really my place to say that a baby has more rights than a mother; but I do feel it’s important to get away from this notion that the baby is not alive until some arbitrary timeline in its development. A human being is ALWAYS developing, from day one; to say that it isn’t “alive” until, say, 2 trimesters, is to ignore basic biology and cheapen human existence. A woman should have the right to a healthy medical procedure – it is beyond ridiculous to ban abortion and send womenback into the back alleys for dangerous illegal ops – but we should be aware of exactly what that procedure is: killing a human being.

And yes, believe me, I’m aware of the blatant hypocrisy rampant on the pro-life front; they make it difficult for people like me to argue reasonably about it, because they’re too busy screaming about God’s wrath to get a word in edgewise. :\ It is distinctly frustrating to be a rational pro-lifer.

Then, too, a fully principled and consistent belief that all human life is precious would have to take into account the conditions in which human life exists. It’s not consistent to oppose the taking of human life across the board (other than in direct self-defense) while simultaneously opposing all or most societal efforts to feed, house, educate, and ensure access to health care for human life after birth. (I’m not referring to your position here, Dynamic, as I’m pretty close to certain that you would agree with this. But many people who consider themselves pro-life do not consider it part of a pro-life position to improve the quality of life for already born people.)

Obviously this is an extreme – I think that overturning a woman’s right to proper medical care in the event of the necessity of an abortion is a terrible idea, because no matter how vigerously I oppose abortion I recognize that there are times when a family will be forced to choose between the life of the mother and the life of the child, and it is not our place to make that particular decision for them – but from my position about halfway between, both worldviews seem a bit inconsistent to me.

I’m opposed to the war, I’m opposed to abortion, I’m opposed to the death penalty – pro-life across the board. Every single human life is precious. This is not a religious principle or partisan platform building; it is a simple principle that every person, I feel, can find common ground with.