> The abortion debate is, and has always been, a question of whether fetuses are alive enough for the term "murder" to apply to them.
In many countries, if a mother kills her baby in the first few months after birth, this is illegal, the liveliness of the baby is not in doubt, and yet the killing is not considered murder, but rather the lesser homicide of infanticide.
Likewise, while the Old Testament prescribes severe penalities for violence that causes a woman to miscarry, it has nothing to say about expectant mothers pursuing abortions. The illegalisation of abortion seems to date back to the Emperor Constantine.
It is a false dichotmoy, that either the fetus is not considered yet alive, or the state should treat the mother as a murderer.
In many countries, if a mother kills her baby in the first few months after birth, this is illegal, the liveliness of the baby is not in doubt, and yet the killing is not considered murder, but rather the lesser homicide of infanticide.
Likewise, while the Old Testament prescribes severe penalities for violence that causes a woman to miscarry, it has nothing to say about expectant mothers pursuing abortions. The illegalisation of abortion seems to date back to the Emperor Constantine.
It is a false dichotmoy, that either the fetus is not considered yet alive, or the state should treat the mother as a murderer.