![]() ![]() Wade's fortieth anniversary, Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams argued that "a fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides." (Williams, like most laymen, uses the term "human" and "person" interchangeably, though many philosophers argue that there is some distinction between their meanings.) In a column timed to coincide with Roe v. Most pro-choicers subscribe to that view-but not at all. ![]() Pro-lifers argue that the same is true of abortion, because fetuses are persons-hence the term "pro-life." Most pro-choicers, on the other hand, would argue that fetuses are not persons until they reach a certain late stage of development, either at the moment of birth or some time prior to it. Nearly everyone believes that persons have a special moral status: Taking the life of another person, barring extreme circumstances, is a grievous sin. ![]() The issue of abortion hinges on the question of personhood. ![]()
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