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WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- As our nation marks the 41st anniversary of legalized abortion, writer Craig Turner takes a look at one of the most personal and poignant decisions a young woman can make: whether to choose an abortion or continue the pregnancy. In a column, "The Logic of Life," posted at www.fgfbooks.com, Turner dispassionately analyzes seven reasons used to justify an abortion:

1. "No one really knows exactly when life begins." Turner responds: "whenever there is uncertainty about whether a person is alive, the benefit of the doubt always goes to preserving life."
    
2. "The fetus is just a part of the pregnant woman's body, like her liver or other organs." "A fetus begins life at the moment of conception with a brand new genetic code, different from those of its mother and father."
    
3. "The embryo or fetus's small size or gestational age is used to say that the embryo or fetus is not a person." "The terms 'embryo' and 'fetus,' ...do not refer to nonhumans, but rather to humans at certain stages of development, just as 'baby,' 'adolescent,' and 'adult' refer to humans at certain stages of development," Turner writes.
    
4. "An embryo or fetus is not viable: it cannot survive without the mother." Turner says: "many humans alive today cannot survive without the help of another human being. Because someone needs help to stay alive does not mean that life is worthless or that person is no longer human."
    
5. "If ultrasound or genetic testing shows that a child will be handicapped, this child will have a poor 'quality of life' and will be unhappy." Turner responds: "People, generally speaking, are happy not when they are successful, but when they are loved. ... National polls have shown that children who are handicapped are on average 3 percent happier than the national average... they are probably happier than you and me."
    
6. "Abortion is justified in cases of rape and incest and to save the life of the mother." "...in cases of rape and incest, it is not right to punish the child for the crime of its father. A child conceived in this way is never at fault. No abortion has ever brought healing to the victim of a rape or incest; it has only created two tragedies rather than one."
    
7. "Every woman should have the right to choose." To this argument, Turner says: "we should look very closely at what that choice really is -- the choice of convenience or 'freedom' over the life of another human being. Every society normally restricts an individual’s freedom to choose something when that choice would harm an innocent person."

"As our knowledge of in-utero development increases, so does our ability to see that we are dealing with human beings," Turner concludes.

Craig Turner is the author of two forthcoming books: Words of Faith and Words of Hope, being released this year by St. Benedict Press.

The full text of "The Logic of Life," is available here:
www.fgfbooks.com/Turner-Craig/2014/Turner140117.html.