Does life begin at conception?

Hilary Clinton: Potential for life begins at conception. . . I am a Methodist, as you know. My church has struggled with this issue. In fact, you can look at the Methodist Book of Discipline and see the contradiction and the challenge of trying to sort that very profound question out. But for me, it is also not only about a potential life — it is about the other lives involved. And, therefore, I have concluded, after great concern and searching my own mind and heart over many years, that our task should be in this pluralistic, diverse life of ours in this nation that individuals must be entrusted to make this profound decision, because the alternative would be such an intrusion of government authority that it would be very difficult to sustain in our kind of open society.

Obama: This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it’s very hard to know what that means — when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don’t presume to know the answer to that question. What I know, as I’ve said before, is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we’re having these debates.

At least Clinton gave an answer; Obama's is either avoiding the issue or he doesn't know for sure.

Either way, it's ironic that people are willing to commit to a stand (like Obama) even though they "don't presume to know the answer to that question".

And as for Clinton, it's curious how "profound" decisions are mostly left to teenage kids and the like.

In the end, shirking this issue does not demonstrate understanding and wisdom, but a lack of it.