Nature intends that an offspring should begin and develop in the mother's baby until it is mature enough to be delivered and live on its own. Those nine months of gestation in the mother's womb pose a long-standing controversy, which pits the rights of the unborn child against the rights of the mother. One side, called pro-life, holds that the embryo or fetus has full and distinct rights to life while in the womb as a separate entity from the mother and, that therefore, the termination of pregnancy through abortion as a birth control method violates its rights. The other side, called pro-choice, argues that pregnancy can be terminated as a method of birth control under certain conditions, that the fetus or embryo does not have the same full rights as the mother and that the mother has a right to her own body. .

             Gleaning from these opposing views, abortion as a method of birth control is generally and fundamentally not morally permissible. Although a woman has a right to her own body and her own choice, there are limits to her right to choose and abortion should be resorted to only in certain conditions and under strict regulations.

             Not only does nature ordain that a mother must bring her pregnancy to full term, but also that respect for human life must cover the beginnings of that life. As the pro-life movement advocates, human life begins at conception, the very moment when the offspring acquires a full and distinct personhood with an identity and rights of its own apart from those of the mother. Scriptures also teach that human life is sacred and that the human soul forms at conception, not at a later time. Abortion or the termination of pregnancy at any time constitutes murder, transgresses the fifth Commandment of God and is, therefore, inherently wrong (Callahan 1998). .

             The US Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 further recognized that all men are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (Independence Hall Association 2005).