I don't believe there is wide spread consensus in the medical world on what defines higher brain functions or exactly when it begins. How do you measure for the presence of higher brain function? I have seen it argued that true higher brain function doesn’t begin until some time after the child is born. Even if you define it doesn’t this still leave a grey area of almost a person but not really? It isn’t like a switch is thrown at any point in the process and point chosen will be in some way arbitrary.

Kind of backing up a bit there is another reason why some people think abortion should be legal but rare, by the way I include myself in that group. There is also the emotional impact abortion has on the women. It is easy to say that it is no different from having a tooth pulled but I have never met a woman who was still grieving over a tooth she had pulled a decade ago but I have met more than one who still grieves over a child she chose not to have. That in and of itself is good reason to keep abortions rare. There is a difference between an developing fetus and a cyst sorry if you can’t see but there is. Could be the dad in me remembering listening to that fetal heart beat. You can’t listen to that and think lump of cells.