Abortion is medically equivalent to murder

Oxford definition of murder: "The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another." http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... Oxford definition of a human being: "A man, woman, or child of the species Homo sapiens, distinguished from other animals by superior mental development, power of articulate speech, and upright stance." http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... Before I describe the rationale for my position, I would like to say that during inception, the prime mover for many people's opinions and beliefs begin with an emotion based inauguration. By this, I mean that the initial comprehension of a position is brought on by either an emotional attachment to a certain aspect or an emotional attachment to the individual(s) who relayed the knowledge. I believe that this subject encompasses a strong disposition for the abortion opposition to allow emotional blockage (if it is indeed present) to disrupt logical reasoning. So, I would hope that any of my objective arguments do not yield the emotional response that is too often linked to the anti-abortion population. My take on the topic is somewhat relative to how my opponent has approached it but in slightly different form. Above, I have given the Oxford English Dictionary definitions of both "murder" and a "human being". Please use these for referencing some of the specific points that I will be outlining. How would we define murder and be able to correlate it to abortion? Well, we first look at the definition of murder and determine if the criteria for murder are congruent with the common abortion. Premeditation will be the first component we analyze. In order to carry out an abortion, this requires (in most instances) calculated planning and consent prior to the procedure. This would certainly pertain to one criterion of murder as it pertains to the definition provided by Oxford. Next, it is important to understand what components are needed in order to fall under the definition of a human being, since a human being is required to be both the victim and killer under the definition of murder. A human being requires superior mental development (or a brain), the power of articulate speech (or the ability to generate words through thought processes), and upright stance (or bi-pedal). This is simply not enough to determine whether or not a fetus qualifies as a human being. I will illustrate in the next segment how to differentiate when and how a fetus falls into this qualification. During the first five weeks after conception (conception begins 2 weeks after intercourse) the fetus has only developed one of the two vital organs necessary for survival, that being the heart. It is not until the fifth week that the fetus develops the head and the brain. Coming back to the components necessary to qualify as a human being, it would seem illogical to qualify a fetus without superior mental development, which requires a brain. In conjunction with this, the power of articulate speech is derived from the brain and a fetus cannot possess this power without the necessary formation of the brain and head. I would take it one step further and say that the absence of a brain points to the absence of a possibility for rudimentary consciousness. Now, once it is confirmed by a physician that the fetus has formed his/her head and brain, this would meet all the necessary criteria to comply with Oxford's definition of a human being. http://www.mayoclinic.org... If, in fact, a fetus has fully developed the two vital organs necessary for survival, I would conclude that abortion is medically equivalent to murder. If a fetus that has not yet reached this developmental stage, which would complete the definition of a human being, and further complete the definition for murder, we cannot logically deduce that abortion has reached the equivalency of murder. The issue that remains is when we have dismissed all situational discretion and have assumed that every situation where an abortion occurs meets the definitive criteria for murder. Ultimately, this issue is a double edged sword, just as differentiating between murder and self defense contain only very fine details that separate the two. These fine details are what prevent irrational thought and allow our civil and social evolution to flourish.