Resolved - Abortion Should Be Legal

"Science shows that the traits that make a human, human, namely self-awareness, advanced cognitive thinking, and a certain degree of consciousness, does not develop until the fetus is 25 weeks old." Just because a being is not as intelligent as a fully grown human does not make it's life obsolete. Animals are not as intelligent as humans, should animal abuse be legal? Should abusing the mentally disabled be legal? "One could then argue that before this stage, a fetus could be considered merely a parasite..." The following is the definition of the word "parasite": "An organism of one species living in or on an organism of another species and deriving its nourishment from the host." Keyword "ANOTHER", not "the same species". So, by definition, a fetus cannot be considered a parasite. "When we are infected by parasites, or viruses, do we stop and consider the moral obligation we have to keep it alive?" So, in your eyes, the life of a human being is no more valuable than the life of a tape worm, or even bacteria. If I misunderstood this statement by all means let me know, but I think if you really meant this, than this statement says a lot about you and the pro-choice cause in general. "Surely, given these appalling numbers, the Pro-Life community should be devoting, at a minimum, the same number of resources towards preventing miscarriages and other natural losses of life as they do towards preventing abortion."` What's your next argument. "Given the appalling number of cancer deaths, those working to combat HIV should be devoting, at a minimum, the same number of resources towards preventing cancer deaths as those do towards preventing HIV/AIDS related deaths." Point is, merely stating that other deaths happen is completely irrelevant and does not change the fact that 3,700 babies a day lose their lives to abortion. And if you really want to talk double standards... Why are most pro-choice people against the constitutional right to bear arms? How come homicides committed with guns matter so much when homicides committed in abortion clinics do not. Why are most pro-choice people so adamantly against the United States stepping up the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups? How come the lives of terrorists matter so much to you when the lives of innocent babies do not? Why are mot pro-choice people so adamantly against the death penalty? For the record, I myself am against the death penalty, but I think it's absurd to claim the life of a convicted criminal is important while you allow babies to be killed on a daily basis. "...perhaps to condemn pre-marital sex or slow the progress of women or something along those lines. " I'm sorry, but this honestly made me laugh. This attempt at insulting us is not only completely irrelevant, but 100% baseless. On a more serious note, my answer is no. No, I am not pro-life simply to condone pre-marital sex, and I am not pro-life simply to "slow the progress of women or something along those lines." I hope you know that the majority of pro-life people I know are women; do you think other women want to slow down their own progress? I can't believe I have to explain this, but I guess I do. Thank you for your time.