2. "A fetus isn't a baby": Well, that's right, a fetus isn't a baby. Just the same way a baby isn't a child and a child isn't a teenager and a teenager isn't an adult. They're all at different developmental stages. But ultimately, they are all human. It's a human fetus. In fact, if you can handle it- take a look at these first trimester images and tell me that this isn't a human.
3. The rape/incest case: As horrible and as tragic as these cases are, getting an abortion doesn't take away the rape. Furthermore, the unborn child isn't guilty of the crimes of his father. How can we justify taking someone's innocent life for a crime he didn't commit?
On the scientific front things seem clear. A fetus is it's own human being, with it's own distinct set of DNA.
But things get murkier- what do we say to those babies being born into poverty, into immature and even neglectful families, those born with conditions that will make their life a struggle? What about those babies who are simply unwanted? Are they better off dead?
Great conversation. Here is an additional $0.02.
I don't think the abortion question should be tied to the rape question, or the danger to the mother, as follows.
We have a law against murder, and against vigilantism. May a rape victim murder their assailant? No, but most states have diminished culpability for extreme emotional disturbance or other forms of distress. The victim's pain doesn't make the murder legal, but it recognizes that its hard to blame the victim completely.
What if the assailant posses a active threat to the victim? The victim can use a justification defense of self defense, which is a complete exception to the laws against murder. its not only an exception to murder, but a general defense to any and all crimes.
So the question of whether a viable fetus is a human life deserving of equal protection (lets talk about 9 months, and past due) shouldn't be tied to the questions of saving the mother's life or rape. If the mother's life is in danger, she can kill all of her children, even if they are 15 years old, or 50 years old. If the mother really hates her 2 year old toddler because the dad raped her and she kills the kid, its murder. But maybe you can understand the mother and give her less jail time. These questions have nothing to do with general question of where life starts.
Doctors, medical boards, governments, and rabbis need to determine when life ends (its not always an easy question) and when life begins. No one asks if a rapist's life ends earlier because he hate him. We develop objective formulas for when lives are over. (brain waves, heart beats, viability, or other formulas.) Doctors, medical boards, governments, and rabbis also need to determine when life begins, generally. "feelings" of who is a person, is not how we usually determine these types of questions.
Remember when some people didn't feel blacks were people for purposes of constitutional rights or murder laws? These questions should not be decided by personal feelings, but by the civilized society.