should i be able to get away with terminating the welfare recipient dependent on tax money for their survival?

Taking money and taking nutrients directly out of one's bloodstream are different.

And that is why you'll never rule the world.

Maybe only certain ones.

Unless you're a Haliburton executive.

You mean lifestyle, not survival, right?

well, touche! (no one thinks of that....... )

the argument is always that the benefits they receive are for survival, not to maintain a "lifestyle".

One who is no longer a parasite to another person.

But what about Siamese twins?

A rather thin argument, depending on who you are talking to.

The argument? Not my argument...

I'll take SM's bait with a serious answer to the consciousness question. Consciousness seems to occur with the development of the neocortical brain activity. This happens at about the same time as viability, 5th or 6th month. IMO, consciousness is the best possible answer to when person-dom occurs because conscious thought is what makes us unique amongst the world of all the beings we know.

This is the best scientific answer and I believe that the law should have a scientific basis with a cultural bias rather than the other way around.

A legal definition is very hard to do. You need a clear cut-off point like conception or birth. Even something like first trimester, second trimester is a little too vague in my opinion. Laws have to be black and white.

I would never dream of killing actual newborn children, but with my own, I didn't think that they were "people" until they were around four to six months old or so. That's when I noticed a spark in the eye. Some sort of reaction to the world around them that was more than just simple reflex. Before that, they were just blobs of flesh. Eating, pooping and crying. The mice I killed in traps in my crawlspace were more conscious and aware than they were.

I agree 100%. While I am rabidly pro-choice, I personally think around 5 months after conception there's a bit of a line that shouldn't be crossed. I don't think abortion should be illegal after that point, but there's something unsettling to me about performing an abortion at that point. I personally wouldn't do it, but that's just me. Every woman should be able to make the decision for herself.

There's a bit of a difference. The welfare recipient is already a born and likely fully grown person who is surviving outside of the womb. A fetus generally cannot.