Very good points on this issue.
I'm religious, but my beliefs may not be your beliefs nor should I force them on you either.
Abortion is a touchy issue among many people. I believe that it is wrong to kill, whether it is in war, capital punishment, and even abortion.
Considering abortion among those, there are a few circumstances in which I feel it should be allowed:
-If the mothers health or life is in danger because of the pregnancy
-In cases of rape or incest
Finally, it should definitely not used as a birth control method. Late-term pregnancies should not be terminated, unless there is some threat to the mother's life.
It's not a nice thing, but it is one of those things that should not be one of our top issues. There are so many other social injustices that occur and abortion is used to distract us from what really needs our attention.
The Republicans use abortion as a key issue when they want to get their Christian base to vote. Tack on some abortion measure on the ballot, you'll get an increase in Christian voters who predominately vote Republican. (These tactics and more used in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, check it out online. There are many sources out there documenting these things). And of course, call the ballot measure something like "Keeping our Children Safe" and you're almost obligated to vote for it.
That has been the major problem with our current Administration and previously Republican-controlled houses.
Declare anyone who isn't for the Patriot Act unpatriotic!
Declare anyone against abortion as Pro-Life! (what an interesting use of words, does that mean people for the free choice of women and their bodies is Pro-Death?)
It's been a horrible display of partisanship and with the corporate media (there is no liberal media, no matter want anyone thinks. Not in the U.S, anyway) we don't get the truth behind all the issues. We don't even get all the issues!
Abortion is a choice, therefore we need the right to choose. The government is not to choose for us what a woman can or can not do with her body.
We need better education among everyone to better understand contraceptives and abstinence, depending on one's views.
There are many other issues, which need to be solved, that deserve our attention and will remedy many other problems with our world today.