Interestingly, I believe we are slowly winning the “when does life begin” argument thanks in part to technology. Ultrasounds provide great insight into how intricate the development of a baby is in its earliest stages.

In addition, a typical foe is an unlikely friend in this discussion. Peter Singer essentially offers two options for when life becomes a person. He has written that we must acknowledge personhood at either conception or sometime several months to a couple of years after birth. He considers these to be the only two options strong enough to bear the burden of personhood. He personally opts for the latter option, but most pro-abortion advocates cringe at this. He considers every other option, with the exception of conception, to be arbitrary and weak. We can use Singer’s argument–choosing the former option of conception–as part of our argumentation to make a case for life.

Thanks for your thoughts on the article.

Specifically, the issue that is at question in the case of Abortion is if the child, often referred to as the fetus/mass of cells/growth/etc. by our political opponents is in fact “alive” and to be counted as a person. If it is, then our battle is won. If it is not, that child has no more rights under Locke and the Constitution than a cancerous tumor.

There is a clear priority of rights in the Constitution that right to self government and self determination is overridden by the rights of others rights to life and liberty (among other things). That is why the debate keeps hinging on the definition of, “Life” in the political arena. At present, our rivals have controlled the language of the debate on this critical level and we have been fighting a losing battle since the 60’s to repeal this set of laws. We have in fact lost this battle over 50 million times now, much to our shame.

If I were personally to direct the efforts of the anti-abortion movement, or writing about it as you have boldly and scholastically done, I would focus on this one distinction with all my efforts. The truth is, no Scientist, Philosopher, or Theologian can determine in every case exactly where life begins. With this ambiguity, I would argue that life is such a precious thing that if we are to err we should do so on the side of life. As such, every pregnancy should be seen as fully protected under the full power and authority of the title, “Person.” If we did this, the battle would be over immediately and conclusively.