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Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Vol. 37, No. 7. April, 17 1974

1) "Abortion is murder"

1) "Abortion is murder"

This argument is raised on the claim that a foetus is a "human being" The point at which it is said to become a human being is the "moment of conception"

We consider this argument to be based purely on faith, not scientific knowledge. Science explains human life as a continuum, with the process of conception merely a stage along the way. If opponents of abortion wish to be consistent they should all oppose contraception as well, but only some of them do. The state has not upheld the view of this last group by banning non-medical use of contraceptives.

"Human life" is different from "human being", the fatter being the status accorded to all members of society. Embryonic human life has only the potential to become a human being. It is at birth that we begin life as social entities and it is at birth that society regards us as human beings, counting our age from that point. This is the prevailing attitude and it is a perfectly rational one.

One of the greatest inconsistencies of our opponents lies in the fact that they want the present abortion laws to remain, they do not propose a total ban on abortion. Yet the law allows abortion on wider grounds than for the preservation of the physiological life of the pregnant woman, which is presumably the only allowable ground for those to whom abortion is "murder". Anti-abortionists are therefore prepared to make exceptions to their own "rules" as they themselves see fit. Their slated concern for the "sanctity of human life" is merely a cover for their real intentions. Their main concern is to keep the decision out of women's reach, to contain abortion within limits acceptable to themselves.