Tim's journal

I think "killing an infant is more like killing a dog than an adult" is worse than merely unpopular: it's not rhetorically consistent. There's no clear demarcation points on the spectrum from newborn to adult; and therefore, by your logic, any murder statute is making an arbitrary demarcation. In which case, the question becomes: what principles should we use to do that demarcation?

I think you'll have a hard time finding any reason better than "personal preference that need not be very rationally defensible" -- and you don't want to let that loose in a 'sanctity of life' debate, because you'll get outvoted badly by the religious right.