Abortion Common Sense? 

It's so rare to see abortion issues talked about in such a common sense, non-radical way... frankly I just don't know what else to say about the latest series of posts from Jane Galt. As I've said many times before... I'm generally against abortion... but am willing to debate at what point in the gestational process it should and should not be allowed. I think that the reason why nobody debates it this way is the difficulty in narrowing things down to an enforceable date.

First of all... its hard to say you can't have an abortion after x number of weeks past conception, because the date of conception is hard to know for sure, or the potential mother would lie about it in order to get the abortion. This makes this sort of deadline making difficult to enforce.

Second of all... its hard to narrow down a specific time during gestation when a fetus should not be aborted. Is it when it becomes viable? When is a fetus viable? And what makes a fetus that is a week before viability any less worthy of life than a viable fetus? And if we say a week before viability is the deadline, why not a fetus that is just a couple days younger? Those sorts of solid lines are hard to draw.

Of course, just because those sorts of determinations are hard to make, doesn't make the debate any less worthwhile. But instead of debating these sorts of realistic options, most people who are concerned about abortion go to one extreme or another. Either every abortion is legal, or absolutely no abortion should be legal. How's that working out so far?

Anyway, checkout the 7 part series... or at least 7 parts so far. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7.