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The best Descartes could do was "I think, hence I am."

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I think that's pretty good. And, thinking requires a functional brain (cerebral cortex).

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That having been said, coming back to the topic of abortion, your position seems to be "since nobody can effectively prove that a fetus is a person it's ok to abort them"

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Not at all. My position is that whether or not it is wrong to abort a fetus, depends entirely upon whether or not that fetus is a person. Further, it is my position that there is a rational discourse that can be had in order to determine to the best of our ability whether and when a fetus becomes a person.


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Why is the opposite not correct? Until you can prove a fetus is NOT a person you shouldn't?

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I'm not talking about proofs here. Science can only tell us so much. Math/logic are mostly useless in this question. What we can do, however, is come up with a rational understanding and agreement. In fact, we have -- nobody ever questions whether someone that is brain dead is still a person (for the most part). The recent Terri Schiavo case brought to light an important medical science idea: a person requires higher brain activity; without which, they are not a person (ie: they do not have the "right to life").

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We as a society must come to definitive answers when it comes to things, even if no such philosophical definitive exists.

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We must come to consensual answers. Not definitive, as our understanding can change.

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Thus I believe having a debate about existence, which spirals further and further into the great beyond, does not contribute much to the question at hand.

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Since it is THE defining question in the debate, I think most other avenues of discussion are moot. If I thought it was not possible to have a rational agreement on what defines personhood, I wouldn't be wasting my time. However, I think there is. Unfortunately, I think rationality is often suppressed by emotion and religiosity.