First of all, as far as the "it's okay to express an opinion as long as it's in line with the left way of thinking" goes, that ain't me.

Very little, if anything, that we talk about here is black or white to me.

Actually, the only thing I can think of off-hand that is black or white among the many is the idea that homosexuality is "wrong."

There's nothing that can be "wrong" (maybe there's an exception or two, I guess) with doing something that doesn't interfere with my rights or the rights of others.

Everything else around here - Bush, Iraq, abortion, the eavesdropping thing, the "War Against Terror", what is or isn't separation of church and state, the right to bear arms, discrimination for whatever the reason against whoever - you name it - has some area of gray to me.

Also, if you want to say that sometimes my thinking is self-righteous at times, go right ahead because it probably is.

But on the abortion question - whether abortion is right or wrong, for moral reasons or for otherwise - I truly believe that if it weren't the men of this country who controlled the government, abortion wouldn't be an issue.

Anyway....

As I said, I don't consider a fetus a baby, and I do not get all bent out of shape when an anti-abortionist shows me a picture of an aborted fetus that looks like a bay.

I know that there are premature births at what, 5-6 months where the baby survives, and I'll grant you that once outside the womb, if it survives then it's a baby.

But once it's outside the womb, it's been born, so of course it's a baby.

Generally speaking though, if the fetus can't be expected to live on it's own it outside the womb, then I don't consider it to be a baby, and don't consider abortion to be murder or slaughter.

Is abortion "wrong"? In my opinion, yes, it is when an abortion is performed as a matter of convenience (not in cases of rape, incest, when the health of the mother is at stake, etc.).

But in our society we sometimes have to allow for "moral wrongs" when they are for the greater good.

Bringing unwanted babies into the world, or forcing children to have babies and adding to the welfare rolls and perpetuating the same vicious cycles over and over again, or forcing a woman to give up the control of her own body and her own life when it is the men who are making the rules and do not ever have to subject themselves to the same set of conditions that the woman does, or allowing men to father children that they take absolutely no subsequent responsibility for, etc., etc. is far worse, to me, than allowing abortions.

You can't solve all of those problems with the one word answer "adoption."