Can Abortion be Considered Justifiable Homicide?

After failing to make a post happen about the Mississippi vote to give fertilized human eggs full human status, I ended up starting a rather heated discussion about the subject in the Gunblogger Conspiracy IRC channel. All sides made some rather good point and some bad, and after having abortion called murder so many times, something stuck with me about it. At work tonight, my thoughts turned back to the conversation and a stray thought hit me hard. Could under certain circumstances an abortion be considered a justifiable homicide?

Killing in self defense is not an uncommon topic in the gunny world. We who carry weapons must deal with the idea that we may be forced to use it. When it comes down to it we allowed by law to commit homicide in protection of ourselves, others, and sometimes our property. Under many state's laws, we do not have to wait for the assault to come, but merely the threat of imminent harm is enough to justify a self defense shooting. Such shootings are different from murder because of the intent. The intent isn't merely to kill someone, but to prevent or stop that person from causing harm. This remains true even if the perpetrator did not mean to harm anyone. Not all criminals are out to harm you, and sometimes people are accidental criminals such in the case of intoxicated persons breaking into homes that are not theirs. The fact that they represent a possible real and present danger is enough to justify their deaths in the eyes of the law. It is tragedy.

In the case of an abortion, the same may hold true. Especially in the event of the rape of a minor. While, opponents point out that while it is terrible that a child was raped, the baby growing inside them is blameless and thus not to be held accountable for the crime committed by the father. To terminate would be murder. But murder is in the intent isn't it? Pregnancy is not always safe. Especially for physically immature mothers. There are real dangers to life and permanent health associated with such pregnancies. Terminating the fetus could be construed as protecting the life and well being from harm rather than murdering it. Is this necessarily so different from an intruder in your house? Will they hurt someone or take something or just go? We do not know until the end. But waiting until the end we could hit the worst possible result or the best. We do not know.

This concept could be expanded to even mature rape victims. Just as in Texas, a thief can be shot down in the back for stealing property, a child is such a massive financial burden for so long... It wouldn't take much to apply it I think. This is really some major food for thought.