All human abortions should be prohibited. The development of a human being cannot be ended simply at will anytime after fertilization takes place because fertilization is when a human life begins. Rape, does not qualify as a valid reason for an abortion. Neither does the health of the mother or child qualify as a valid reason.

If the woman’s health is in danger or the fetus is shown to have very severe physical or genetic damage that is likely to cause death, only passive euthanasia could be possibly be considered.

However, the natural mortality rates of blastocysts and zygotes are impressively high, with less than 50% of pregnancies naturally successfully graduating to the fetus stage of development. The complexity of the process of human biological reproduction and the incredibly small amounts of natural hormones and other chemical levels could potentially alter the success of the pregnancy at these early stages. In addition, minute changes in any of numerous other variables prevent us from ‘predicting’ the success or failure of any particular pregnancy because it cannot be separated from the statistical ‘noise’ during these early stages of development. As a result, it is easy to understand that natural processes are highly ‘risky’ to any conceived child (namely blastocysts and zygotes) and more likely than not (especially in the very early stages of development) to result in the natural abortion of the child.

Therefore, the term ‘human life’ should be applied to all human blastocysts and zygotes. Actions deliberately taken to induce abortions at these very early stages (anything from eating the wrong foods to taking abortifacient drugs), including taking drugs that prevent attachment to the uterine wall, could be treated as murder. However, trying to separate murderous intent from the statistical noise in any than the most conclusive of cases, is a very unwise commitment of resources.

As a result, abortion prosecution policies should be applied only when the statistical noise has settled down to a point where far more predictable statistical outcomes are known. This means that there is a significant ‘gray area’ within which predictable outcomes switch from being low enough to high enough. This would also be the boundary at which the application of government abortion regulations would also properly switch from being too arbitrary to being justified. Of course, if the mother and/or other ‘murderer’ has stated that their intention was to end the pregnancy, then charges could be brought against them at any time after conception.

Under this principle, unless evidence of an activity intended to lead to an abortion can be proven, “allowing” the aborting of a blastocyst (before its implantation on the uterine wall 5 to 9 days after fertilization) would raise the least controversy.

Since there are no definite markers during the rest of the pregnancy other than the beginning (fertilization and conception) and the end (birth), it appears that the only other alternative would be time limits measured from conception or, most likely, from the last menstrual cycle before conception.

Human abortion will always be in high demand because of the nature of the problem. People want convenience and pleasure and tend not to plan things out or think enough about the future. Shortcuts are so very appealing in many situations. Arguments for allowing abortion services are all grounded in unacceptable (namely, immoral) shortcuts. Some examples: 1) a baby would be a huge impact on unprepared parent(s), 2) sexual intercourse is such a common activity, 3) more dangerous illegal abortions would increase if legal abortion is prevented, 4) the resource demand on the courts would increase dramatically if legal abortions are banned, 5) social stability may be jeopardized if abortions are banned. All of these objections are unacceptable shortcuts. Instead, these problems should be addressed by requiring greater personal accountability of all parties involved.

In summary, human life begins at conception. People could take measures to prevent conception, but humans cannot be killed for convenience afterwards. The question, from a public policy perspective, is where the statistical noise is low enough to categorically prosecute people for aiding or undergoing an abortion procedure.

Active Euthanasia – Abortion After Birth

Abortions of human life after birth, or what would better be termed ‘active euthanasia’, should also not be allowed at any time after the birth of a child, with no maximum age limit.

Passive Euthanasia

Passive euthanasia, namely hospice care, should also be legalized. However, death should not be aided or accelerated, but life-extending medications and treatments could be withheld while maximum comfort is supplied until death occurs. This treatment would generally be given only to post-birth people, and most commonly used for the elderly and terminally ill.