Somehow asking candidates "when do you believe life begins?" has become a staple of the debates. We are certain to see the question again -- the meme has been established, as if that question fully captures what is important for the voters to know on reproductive health issues.
But the question as phrased is a belief-test obscuring the legitimate political questions about the CIVIL LAWS we want to have our government to use its resources and police powers to enforce.
No matter what their position on these issues, voters have a right to know what EFFECTIVE ACTIONS the candidate will take once in office, not just what their avowed "beliefs" are.
Legitimate political questions on reproductive issues include:
What CIVIL LAWS governing doctor-patient decisions on reproductive issues should government use police powers to enforce? (Please address birth control and stem cell research as well as abortion.)
If you think our laws should be changed to make abortion illegal, do you think women seeking abortions should be jailed? For how long? What about doctors, nurses, or pharmacists who provide assistance?
Should the same sentencing guidelines apply for emergency birth control? For all birth control?
Would the police and the courts allow any exceptions for the woman or girl's circumstances? Which exceptions? What kind of government investigation into the woman or girl's private life should be conducted?
Hopefully some savvy journalists will get beyond the belief-test "gotcha" question into these substantive pragmatic issues.
Or some savvy candidates will take the opportunity to do the same.
NB: Asking a candidate for their personal beliefs on when life begins is like asking them whether they believe baptism before the age of reason is effective to save a soul. Theologians themselves do not agree about when life begins. The Catholic church famously adopted the position that life begins at conception only recently, replacing the previous doctrine that life begins at "quickening". One position held by theologians and scientists alike is that life does not begin -- it continues. In that case, there is no answer to the question as phrased.