You have a well spoken arguement, but a quick question? Can an infant survive on its own? Can a toddler? Can a small child (starts getting to be a possibility here to go either way)? I personally don't find that to be a valid arguement. One based on size or quantity of flesh. Give any fetus 9 months of time and it is a baby, that won't change. So it is sub-human or really part of the pregnant woman until then?
Not in the sense that they can feed, bath, and perform personal hygene, but they can in fact breath and perform most bodily functions without assistance.
I should have rephrased that - survive out of the womb. At that stage of pregnancy, a fetus could not survive out of the womb, even with the best medical assistance we have.
It's an issue of where one draws the line between human, and "will be human". I do not deny that my thoughts are that of selfish intent, and that I put my well being before an unborn child, but that is where I stand. As far as where I stand politically, I am best described as libertarian, and my convictions follow that of the libertarian party in that it is a personal choice and not one for the government to mess with.
As a serious, commited, and intimate couple, I do not see how an outsider has any more right to say that we should abstain from intercourse than they do to tell a woman what she can do with her body. If a vasectomy had a higher reversal percentage than it currently does, I would choose that method in place of having the woman tinker with hormones and chemical balences within her body. But alas, it is not highly reversable at the time, so it is not a likely solution.
There is no black and white issue here. I believe after a certain point a fetus is human, and others feel differently. We could argue till we are blue in the face and nothing will change those beliefs.
To counter your argument about liberals and the death penalty - I personally find it odd that someone who is against abortion would have no problems killing someone for stealing a $150 stereo. I find that a serious flaw in beliefs myself, reguarless of political slant.