Reply #129: So I ask you-- When does a fetus have human rights? [View All]

Some pro lifers would say "never"-- It doesn't have rights until its born. Other put it at 12 weeks post conception. Other stick to the Roe v. Wade decision: first 2 trimesters okay, after that no. Prior to that decision, abortion law was left to individual states, where various definitions of life were applied.

But all of these distinctions seem rather arbitrary when medical science can enable a fetus to live outside the womb for increasingly longer periods prior to term. Does the prematurely born infant have different rights than a baby brought to term when abortion is acceptable for a fetus of the same age? And conversely, if abortion were completely free, would it eventually become acceptable to kill an infant?

I'm not religious, but I care about the right to live. To those who are so concerned about the mother's rights to do as she please, I ask, does the growing fetus inside her body have any rights at all?