Abortion should be federally illegal.

Abortion should be federally illegal. Before I defend this argument, I will provide definitions for the key terms in my case. Abortion: The medical term which refers to the termination of an embryo or fetus while it is still in the womb (operationally defined very broadly, since this is a debate over a proposed definition for this word) Kill: To end the life of (M-W) Life: The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism. (The Free Dictionary) Innocent: Not guilty of a crime or other wrong act (M-W) Human: A member of the species Homo sapiens; a human being (The American Heritage Dictionary of Student Science) Now that these are out of the way, I will set up the format for my Pro case. My case will use a single syllogism to prove that abortion should be federally illegal. The killing of an innocent human should be federally illegal. Abortion is the killing of an innocent human. Therefore, abortion should be federally illegal. Now, I don't expect anyone to have a problem with the first premise, but where I expect to see some debate is over the second premise, that abortion is the killing of an innocent human, so that will be what I defend in my first case. This premise assumes three things about abortion: First, that it is a killing, second, that the victim is innocent, and third, that the victim is human. So I will tackle these three claims: 1. Abortion is a killing. First, go back and read my definition of kill. To kill is to end a life. This means that in order for abortion to be a killing, a fetus must be alive, and this is where the biggest pro-choice argument lies. Most pro-choice arguments rest on the idea that life begins after birth, and not conception. So in order to decide whether a fetus really does qualify as "living," read my definition for life. Life is the quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms (a pretty reasonable definition). I think we can agree that after an abortion, a fetus looses this quality, and no distinction can be made any longer between the fetus and a dead organism. Now, I know that some people say that a fetus isn't alive because it cannot survive outside the womb, and yet, no one bothers to argue that parasites aren't alive. I'm not saying that a fetus has the worth of a parasite, I am only saying that they are equally alive. However, a fetus is worth more than a parasite because it is human (point #3). 2. The victim of an abortion is innocent. Now, I don't expect to have any debate over this point either, but just in case, go reread my definition for innocent. I don't think anyone will bother to argue that a fetus is guilty of a crime or other wrong act. 3. The victim of an abortion is human. By definition, a human is a member of the species Homo sapiens. Now, have you ever heard of a single creature (not a species that is evolving) changing from one species to another? No. No one claims that that can happen. So in order to ever become a human, a fetus must already be a human, because no creature can actually change its species. In conclusion, because a fetus is an innocent, living, human, its life MUST be federally protected.