I once experienced something almost exactly like a phantom limb. After an episode of sleep paralysis laying on the couch on the third floor of my university library, I suddenly regained control of my arms. I was unable to open even my eyes...but I had complete control of my hands and arms. Eventually I reached up and touched my face, only to discover that there was no opposite sensation from the skin on my face. I was able to feel my hair and the features of my face, but my face felt as if it had been completely numbed.

Eventually I was able to force my eyelids open, and to my complete amazement...my arms were laying crossed across my chest in the same position they were in when I fell asleep. I was able to "move" them across my field of vision, but they remained motionless on my chest. The whole experience lasted a minute or two and was strangle not unpleasant, unlike all of the sleep paralysis episodes I have.

Has anyone hear heard of such a thing? Sleep paralysis is well documented, but I have never been able to find anything similar to what I have described here.

Abortion stops a process that sometimes ends with a fully aware human being. The same thing can be said about sexual intercourse. You promote contraception later in your post; I fail to see how this is not "stopping a process that would otherwise (in a typical scenario) end in a fully aware human being."

Assuming you aren't sterile, the fact that you are commenting on slashdot stories instead of actively trying to procreate means you are stopping that very same process.

Where do you draw the line? How far back in the process of procreation do you have to go before it is completely an issue of the rights of a person and not "just an excuse"?