Whether or not a fetus is a human being is a large area of discussion. You imply that you do not consider the fetus a human being because of your “reasonable understanding of biology.” However, many abortion opponents use arguments purely based on biology to make a case that a fetus is fully human from conception.

In my personal opinion, both extremes in this case are incorrect. I don’t believe that a fertilized egg is a human being in any ethically meaningful sense, and I don’t believe that passing through a birth canal confers moral status on a fetus. Humanity lies somewhere in-between.

While I agree with you that nobody has the right to enforce pregnancy upon a woman, I do not think that a woman necessarily has complete moral freedom after she becomes pregnant. For example, I think it would generally be unethical to have an abortion solely because you found out that your child was going to have your husband’s red hair instead of your blond hair. I also think it would be unethical for a woman who only realized she was pregnant after eight months of pregnancy to opt for an abortion.

In any case, I appreciate the comments and topic suggestion. I’ll consider putting together a post on the ethics of forcing a woman to have a child.

Your discussion of abortion is focussed on the issue of whether or not it is murder, in fact your choice of question posed for this topic comes from a point of bias towards the rights of the fetus vs the rights of a woman to determine her future.

As a person with a reasonable understanding of biology I do not think that a fetus is a human being. It is not a human being in it’s own right until it is viable outside the womb. Until that point in time (in the last trimester) I am strongly of the opinion that every woman has the right to determine her own reproductive timetable and that no one ever has the right to enforce pregnancy upon her. That’s what limiting access to abortion does. RU486 would avoid late abortions in all but the most unusual cases, this would allow safe early abortion long before a fetus had any viability outside of the womb. To refuse this to women is to insist that ones beliefs are more important than a woman’s right to her future.

How about you try rephrasing the question as “Is it allowable for anyone to force a woman to bear a child?” and see how your discussion is framed from that starting point.