The moral issues that I can see to having an abortion so far are:
1) Is the fetus conscious?
We seem to have decided that ending a conscious life is wrong (we'll exclude non-humans for the sake of convenience). A single cell would not seem to fit this criteria though, so then the big question is when does the fetus become conscious? Hell if I know, but a working mind would help.
2) Will the fetus feel pain?
Scientific studies vary widely on this. A working formation of the nervous system is close to 24 weeks but I have seen as low as 6, depending on the researcher's bias (pro-life vs. pro-choice). Pain-killer should be used after that point if an abortion is necessary.
3) Is this terminating potential life?Perhaps this should be worded "Is this terminating a life in progress?" since both men and women will terminate millions of potential lives in their own lifetime. In that case, I would answer "yes." On the other side how can we equate this type of life with a person? I dislike arguments that rely on the future: "It could become a person" since sperm or eggs can also become a person but we don't let it happen very often. The main difference here is choosing to prevent or choosing to stop.
Edited by - LucidSky on 13 August 2002 12:24:35