On killing babies

"Killing babies no different from abortion, experts say"

At first I was quite heartened by that headline.

Though I wondered why we needed "experts" to point out the obvious: that abortion equals killing babies:

• Babies are persons, whether they've yet travelled the length of the birth canal or not
• Killing babies outside the womb is wrong
• And so it is wrong to kill them inside the womb too
  

However on reading the story itself, it became clear that their logic was something quite different...

• Babies are not persons, whether they've yet travelled the length of the birth canal or not
• Killing babies inside the womb is (so they say) fine
• And so there's nothing wrong with killing them inside the womb, either

Academics are often more willing than others to follow through the logic of their premises.

If it's OK to kill babies who are located at one end of the birth canal, why not the other?

Why not indeed?

If on the other hand, babies are persons (which they are!) then abortion is murder of the most defenceless people of all, and our societies are ripe for the fierce and holy wrath of God.