We did make the mistake of taking in a single mother who was unceremoniously dumped that we felt sorry for (the baby mainly). We had to chase her out in the end and that was far from easy. I think she was doing something called "couch surfing". Hey, well she doesn't pay a thing and gets all the benefits. There is little in the way of public housing here and definitely no council housing, although my home town does have some pensioner cottages.

  I think anyone would agree with your rant.  That's why the anti-Christ is used in this situation, to show that no one is completely against abortion, and it is always going to be a question of degree, and everyone will feel slightly different as to what merits an abortion, so it is not really fair to legislate abortion because it's really an issue of morals, it is not secular, and law needs to be secular or else our religious views will dominate law, which is something that most cultures have decided is not a good idea because...    Well, that is a whole other subject.

Sancitity of life is not necessarily a solely religious concept though.  There is also a secular understanding of sanctity of life.  I came across this while researching an essay about assisted dying.  I'll see if I can find the reference.

It does seem that whole abortion debate in the US is quite different from my own part of the world.  We don't have people shouting at women going in for abortions, or holding placards showing pictures of aborted foetuses and saying that these women and the doctors will go to Hell.  I understand that all of that is not uncommon in the States.  Nor can I recall a doctor who perfoms abortions ever being shot.

And the people who do the shouting and the placard waving and the shooting call themselves Christians.  The US seems to be a very polarised society and one which is in many ways quite alien to me.

Same here. The American way, is quite foreign to me as well. And is very difficult to understand and perplexing.

think it is difficult for you to understand, how bout those of us who live here who dont understand it

Its all so confusing....

Found it.  This is from the UK Parliament's House of Lords Select Committee on Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill First Report, Chapter 3, published in 2005.

Sanctity of Human Life

53.  It was clear from the evidence which we took from representatives of religious organisations (see QQ 1758-1809) and from letters we received that many people believe that life is God-given and cannot in consequence be terminated by others, even on request. For them the sanctity of human life is a concept which is closely linked with religious convictions. Some of our witnesses, however, argued that there is also a secular version of this principle. Professor Glover defined this as "an absolute barrier, an absolute ban, not derived from a religious source on the intentional taking of innocent human life", which he believed to be identical to the religious version (Q 65). "Most human beings," he continued, "think that the issue of taking someone's life is a deeply serious issue and one that requires a great deal of justification. I do not think one needs religious authority to take a view like that" (Q 65). The Rev Professor Gill said that, while to Christians life is God-given, "to secular people life is still given, it is given by the people; you did not invent your life. Human life is in that sense special and to be treated with care. Intentional killing is not something any of us should be taking lightly, whether we are religious or not" (Q 1777).

Although here sanctity of life was being discussed in the context of "end of life" issues, I think it has relevance to the issue of abortion also.  It seems that, particularly in the US, being anti-abortion is synonymous with being religious, but I don't believe that to be the case.  One doesn't have to have a religious faith to be opposed to abortion.  And in many cases, and for many people, as has already been pointed out, there are many shades of gray in terms of the circumstances in which abortion may be permitted or how late in the pregnancy an abortion may be carried out.

does anyone share my belief that the soul does not enter the body until it is close to the time to be born.

would that make any difference in how people view abortion

When I was at uni the Roman Catholics would talk a lot about the issue of "ensoulment" and when it can be said to happen.

Going along for the moment with the previous two posts ... is the concept of "ensoulment" supported Biblically? If so, how long must pass between conception and ensoulment?

R.C's believe the soul enters the body at the moment of conception and one shouldn't use contraception since it interferes with God's will and increases temptations to stray from the sanctity of marriage or not to bother with it at all.

Needless to say, I don't agree on the issue of contraception. Like, who is going to feed the envitable football team. There is a saying, R.C's enjoy sex more since it is always forbidden.

I remember a joke about R.C.s, which may be offensive to some. I apologize in advance.

Q: Aren't those who practice the rhythm method a little weird?
A: No ... just a little off-beat, at times...

Ensoulment is a doctrinal issue and the question of when it occurs has been debated and discussed over the years, with differing opinions of when it occurs.  It has been thought to occur at conception, at set times either after conception or before birth, when the mother first feels the child moving, or at birth.

I think that now it is often considered to occur when the primitive streak develops as that will indicate whether a pregnancy will produce one or more children.

The best step in moral evolution as a species would be to overcome our basest urges.  Vegetarianism would be a good step.  So would ending abortion.  Greed is out.  That should be the first.

And yes, war should be a thing of the past.  Then, once we overcame these evils, a trek to the Moon and Mars is in order.  But, I do not believe that that trek will be allowed until war is over and done.

Back before there were abortions, people placed their kids in institutions when they weren't normal. Back in the olden days mothers left their babies to die out in the fields, they left them anywhere such as putting them in a basket and floating it down the river. Now with abortions and ultra sounds we can see if our kid has birth defects before it's born and people decide to have an abortion just because their kid isn't perfect.