Give Hollywood Some Credit

We consider rape because it is a form of involuntary exploitation. We consider incest because it is a form of superior exploitation. These two cases, along with preserving the life (not livelihood or welfare) of the mother, are the only exceptions worth noting.

There is no such thing as a “fully formed” human being. We are in a state of development following a chaotic path throughout our lives, from conception to grave.

If we respect human life, if we desire to preserve its intrinsic value, then the moral decision pertains to defining “conception”. There are two significant events of “conception”, First, there is biological conception. Second, there is conscious conception, which is reasonably correlated with development of the nervous system. Both are valid considerations. Our consciousness is either an emergent property of, or an expressed property through, our complex neural network. Since it is consciousness which makes us uniquely human, this may be a reasonable standard to distinguish between passive and active biological material.

From our national charter, The Declaration of Independence, we have the following guidance:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

and from the Fourteenth Amendment to our Constitution:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall
any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The State cannot sanction taking the life of a citizen without due process of law, and equal protection of the laws.

For people who subscribe to a Judeo-Christian faith, there is this divine guidance from Genesis:

And the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and He breathed into
his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a living soul.

Our national charter recognizes our unalienable right to life from “creation”. The Torah distinguishes between biological creation and a “living soul”. Both describe conception, but which event is decisive?

Our Judeo-Christain temperance proscribes elective abortion. Our laws proscribe elective abortion. Roe vs Wade is unconstitutional unless it is equally applied, which would cause most, if not all, people to reconsider their choices.