Actually,   from what I read, the Pope is advocating legally recognized civil unions.  I don't think he or the church has any business redefining Marriage but I can certainly see arguments supporting the rights of civil unions between gay folks.  

What I find curious is the lack of uproar from the left on their imaginary "Separation of Church and State". 

Nahhh,  I'm just kidding.  I don't find it curious at all  :-)

yes, remember the pope did Not say gay marriage.  he Did say civil union.  

at least it is a small step toward more tolerance.  

and this does not mean it will become official policy for the catholic church.  

"this does not mean it will become official policy for the catholic church."

Agree. There is big disagreement in the Catholic Church between the progressives and conservatives on several issues. 

Population control is another one. 

History suggests that on issues like this, the progressives will win out.

I can actually see both sides to some of the issues. With this particular one, I am 100% on the side of gay marriage just from spending a great deal of time studying the biology of this issue as a scientist. Millions of people were born biologically gay. That is a rock solid scientific fact. To expect them to be any different to conform to a standard in society is inhumane. 

To deprive them of rights for just being themselves is ethically wrong.

An even hotter topic is abortion.

As a scientist, it's crystal clear that life does not begin when the baby exits the woman's body. Forget religion because when you use that, it lets non religious people off the hook for taking the wrong position.

The authentic biological fact, is that there is a real baby, a real human being living inside the mother before he or she exits her body.

Whether you believe in God or not, this is irrefutable. There is disagreement  on the point in time when that baby could survive on its own, outside of the mother but as medicine advances, that time has been pushed up.

Why would a premature baby born at 7 months be a human being but one still in the womb then not be a human being with any rights?

I selected 7 months because the baby can survive then. At 2 months, it could not. 

So does that mean it was not a baby at 2 months?

Many people probably think of it, sort of in those terms. Previous abortion laws treated it that way. 

One thing for sure is that science will never be able to tell us exactly when each child would be able to survive outside of the womb. 

My wife was very ill with our last child, with several medical issues that the doctors thought were harmful to the baby, so they wanted to induce labor ASAP but only if Mac's chances to do well would not be compromised from leaving the womb too early.

So they did amniocentesis a couple of times on Mac's lungs and induced labor around a month early when the test said his lungs were ready.

He spent a week in special care but did great. 

Should a woman in the same situation that didn't want their baby be able to abort?

A human being to one set of parents.

An inconvenient mass of flesh to another set of parents.

This means, that we are leaving it up to the woman to decide when a person is a human being based on what her priorities are...........not based on the science. Not based on any consistency being applied to each baby....protecting each baby.

If you want him or her.............it's a human life from the get go/conception.

If you don't want him or her............its not a human life, until he or she exits the womb, 9 months later..............then you're stuck.

Or maybe it is a human life to the parents but legally, their right to eliminate it without consequences allows them to justify doing so, along with other rationale for why they don't want a baby. 

I am not without compassion and understanding that ignores very challenging circumstances in many cases that elect to abort but there are other options.

Also, one side is always telling us to follow the science. The science is crystal clear here. The baby that exits a womans body at 9 months, was a human being long before that. 

Laws and science in strong conflict.