Abortion. Still? Why?

Of all the controversial political issues out there, I often try not to make up my mind simply by following the party line.  While I may feel one way about something, I will also try to really understand why the opposition feels so strongly.  Most issues (like same-sex marriage for example) I think there can be some kind of compromise that respects the convictions of both parties.

I feel completely differently about abortion.  For a long time I have listened to the arguments, have been unable to find any in favor of abortion that I can wrap my mind or heart around.  Why doesn't our society value or protect innocence?

This year I have been increasingly convicted on this issue.  It all started when I read this heartbreaking story that someone had shared online, describing an abortion watched via ultrasound where the baby literally squirmed to try to get away as it was being dismembered.  Clearly the was consciousness.  How can people still argue that "life" doesn't start until X weeks or birth?  By the time most women find out they are pregnant, the baby already has a heartbeat, and is developing much more rapidly than people like to admit!

Then, a few months later my sister filled me in on the highlights of the disturbing abortion doctor scandal that the media tried to ignore.  Finally today I saw this article describing a late term abortion of twin girls, and I was again shocked by the callousness that people feel.

I just don't get it.  Why is this still happening?

What about the rape argument?  There are plenty of people willing to adopt these children who had no control over the conditions of their conception.  Should a human life really receive a death sentence in order to alleviate some of the trauma of their mother?  And genetic defects?  Again, plenty of people willing to adopt those children who are different, and will face big challenges, but are no less human and precious (and often more pure-hearted) than the rest of us.

The only concession I can really wrap my mind around is the morning-after pill.  Some argue that this is tantamount to abortion, and the arguments aren't that dissimilar from those against birth control.  I do not have a finalized opinion on the morality of either, however, if there was ever a compromise to be made, this would be it.

My question is, with the morning-after pill now legally available, why is abortion even still a legal option?  Isn't it a far more safe, sanitary, and less traumatic and less morally incomprehensible than an abortion?  At the very least, why are we still allowing late term abortions, or abortions for teenagers without parental knowledge or consent?  Can't we at least take some steps back in the right direction, toward valuing the dignity of human life?  Shouldn't the right to life (which is one of the core principles our nation was created upon) trump a woman's so called "right to choose"?

My daughter at one day old, clutching her father's hand.
How can you not want to protect something so fragile & innocent?

It should. So why haven't things changed?