text: No one is arguing that conception doesn't spark life. But a life form without a brain isn't (conclusively) a human person.
  
  The nativity narratives are theological fiction, so you needn't delve into exegesis. And anyway, I'm not arguing Catholic theology should relax its ethic of life. I approve of it, for the most part. However, the status of a pre-conscious fetus is so ambiguous as to encourage the consensus status quo. The abortion issue is a unique case of competing interests that Roe satisfactorily addresses. Theocrats wish to impose their religious convictions on a pluralistic polity, an agenda that will always meet with resistance in the USA.