I read this thread with interest. This one is all-female, and I am folowing an all-male "Abortion is a Woman's Right. Period!" thread on another board.

Most of the debate about abortion over there can be divided by positions on "when life begins." There is actually a percentage that do take a fertilized egg to be "potential human life"; probably the same people who view stem cell research to be abortion (even though the waste products of fertility clinics have no chance to become babies).

Then there are those who say life starts with detectable brain function and heartbeat.

Then there are those who use 14 weeks as the cut-off, because this is what the "partial birth abortion" law that was just signed says. Do you all know that abortions after then are now illegal?

Most say the third trimester should be the cut-off for abortion, though preemies rarely live unless they are at least 8 mo when delivered.

Perhaps advances in technology will shift these lines; test-tube life support, implantation in animals, whatever. Anyway, the morning-after option prevents implantation, so is no different than IUDs, failed In-Vitro, or the fertilized eggs that don't implant for couples that are trying to get pregnant. No one accuses them of having abortions.

And now I'll shut up!!