All this talk of abortion and law confuses me. Why is it, again, that killing a pregnant woman constitutes a double murder, but aborting a fetus constitutes a woman's choice? If the fetus were considered to be the property of the woman, shouldn't the crime be equivalent to just murder and tire slashing or something like that?

I mean, stuff like that makes me think there isn't a clear-cut consensus even among people with judicial power as to whether a fetus is property or a person.

I was walking through Kedzie Hall one day, and I noticed the display in the main hallway — are you guys really sure I was that tiny and that funny looking once?

I'm also confused when I read reports about extremely premature babies (affectionately called "preemies"), who are delivered before week 26 of the standard 40-week pregnancy. Apparently, more than a quarter of them go on to live, some of them even have normal lives.

But I thought they weren't human. How do they become alive without coming to full term? Aren't fetuses like the rest of us, who magically change on the night of our 18th and 21st birthdays? Do they become human at birth just like I became a responsible citizen on the 18th anniversary of mine?

And OK, I'm not a woman, but I'm told I was a fetus once and if I was, then I'm pretty glad my mom didn't decide I should never have a birthday. I kind of like having birthdays. They're magic!

Alex Nezich
chemical engineering junior