I like your thoughts, and generally agree. However, I do not believe a fetus is a human being any more than I think an egg is a chicken. And while they strongly-held opinions of many must be recognized and taken seriously, they must not be granted respectability. For instance -

Claiming the sanctity of life of a fetus, they do not protest the so-called collateral damage to third-world civilians. If human life were sacred to them, that's a slam dunk. We can throw out the opinion of those hypocrites, not even argue with them, while recognizing they exist.

The other side of that coin is to recognize that abortion is murder. We in the US kill humans all the time with the approval and/or passive acceptance of most of society. We decide society is better off without some people and kill them. We have decided that the highway system is so valuable we allow 50,000 people to die on it every year. If life were as sacred as some folks claim, that wouldn't be allowed.

The end result of the last argument would be that murder is an acceptable solution to some of societies problems and abortion is acceptable.

A legitimate debate can be had only with those who protest murder in all circumstances, not just abortions. The rest of them have accepted the torturous reasoning of preachers who can justify absolutely anything and still claim the cloak of pious religiousity. Their thinking processes are seriously compromised.

They do vote, though, and drive. They're all around us.

No one "likes" abortion. It is, however, an acceptable solution to serious societal problems, just as is capital punishment.

Arf