The fetus is not independent while it is legal to destroy it I like how you didn ' t say kill there , I ' ll be using that . It is completely part of the mother at that point in the pregnancy . Fine , that was really badly worded . And those life forms are either part of the body ' s systems or parasitic . A fetus falls into the second category , it ' s just one we create . The line isn ' t drawn by me . Brain development that early , is forming a brain that can function in the first place . Shortly after the brain is an actual functioning organ , is when the fetus is officially a baby , as it can survive outside the womb . At that point , it is illegal to abort , because it is an actual baby . Plenty of complications in the mother that weren ' t clear beforehand can make it dangerous even with modern medicine . Though yes , modern medicine does remove most dangers . How many are going to adopt a child with severe developmental problems when there are plenty of healthy children ? They ' ll be likely to spend those 18 years in the system , and only leave if they can even care for themselves when they ' re an adult . A baby , cannot understand complex terms . A toddler , is still not thinking in such complex terms . And a child should not need to be taught them . However , throughout all this , they can still suffer . Meanwhile , a fetus with its brain still developing into something capable of thought in the first place , can have its growth tracked with modern equipment , and so the brain becoming malformed can be discovered before it ' s even a viable life . Also , once again , when a fetus is a person isn ' t arbitrary , and isn ' t coming from me . It ' s when it can survive outside the womb , as an actual baby . Oh , and guess what , the brain works shortly before that , acting as the line drawn before it ' s a matter of killing a viable life form .