Life Begins at Viability
Maria, what about the baby born prematurely who needs artificial support for a period of time? Has that child’s life not begun? What about an older child or adult who experiences a medical emergency or accident that temporarily requires life support?
Do we, depending upon our health, go in and out of being “alive” and deemed worthy as humans? If independence is the threshold of life then children would not truly be human until close to adolescence.
Scientifically, life begins at conception. At conception, the sperm and egg create a new human being with its own unique set of DNA – different from its mother’s or father’s. Therefore, that new human being is due the same fundamental right to life that each human is accorded. Feel free to visit our website for great information regarding fetal development – beginning at conception.
If a pregnant woman is killed, the person responsible for her death is sometimes charged for the death of the baby, as well. How can we justify abortion just because the fetus requires time and nourishment in order to develop into a full-term baby?
Marianne, your position of determining the value of a person’s life based on dependency and presupposed outcomes is very subjective and not grounded in fact.
Firstly, what makes the unborn’s dependence different from the dependence of a newborn, a child, or a person who is experiencing a medical emergency? Those people also will not survive apart from the help of caregivers. In the case of medical emergencies, we as a society compassionately deliver care based on need – generally not on a financial calculus.
Secondly, you seem to be assuming that all preemies are doomed to a life of handicaps and suffering. That is simply not true. Compassion dictates that each person’s life is valued equally – that includes the unborn, the handicapped, the infirm and the elderly – whether or not they are in a state of dependency.
Barry, there is not speculation scientifically as to when human life begins. At conception, a unique, identifiable new member of the human species is formed. Our human rights should be based on the objective foundation of CORE identity. Humans have human rights – the first of which is a Right to Life.
Your argument is based on subjective ever-shifting criteria – “quality of life” and “viability”. Subjective criteria to value humans is the basis of oppression. That same subjective logic has resulted in the oppression of minority groups, women, the handicapped, Jews, etc. For something as important as the protection of human rights an objective standard of CORE human identity must be used.
Please consider this quote from Professor Micheline Matthews-Roth, Harvard University Medical School: “It is incorrect to say that biological data cannot be decisive…. It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception…. Our laws, one function of which is to help preserve the lives of our people, should be based on accurate scientific data.”
Kirk, unfortunately that is the issue. The pro-choice argument devalues human life. With its own unique set of DNA, a fetus has just as much of a right to life as you or I do. The constitution itself grants each person the fundamental right to life. If a pregnant woman is killed, the person responsible for her death is sometimes charged for the death of the baby, as well.
How can we justify abortion just because the fetus requires time and nourishment in order to develop into a full-term baby?
Brad, there most definitely is an instant change! At conception, the sperm is not simply altered – instead a completely different being is formed. This new human being has the complete set of 46 chromosomes (23 from the sperm and 23 from the egg) that uniquely identify it as a human being – not just an altered sperm. Absolutely NOTHING genetically will be added from that point forward. The new human being simply will follow the same course of development that we each have followed – both inside and outside the womb.
Remember development does not stop at birth. The human being who has gone through puberty is VERY different than prior to puberty. An elderly person is VERY different physiologically from a 20-year-old. Yet these development changes do not alter the unique genetic being that is formed instantly at conception.
That is why scientifically, conception is the moment when human life begins. Here is a quote from an embryology textbook. “Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because … a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed….” [O’Rahilly, Ronan and Muller, Fabiola. Human Embryology & Teratology. 2nd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29.]
Brad, something as important as the definition and protection of a human life should not be arbitrary. That is why we provided you with a citation from an actual embryology textbook. Genetics would seem to be a logical, objective criterion. Please provide evidence for your position. It appears to simply be your opinion. Even for yourself – your opinion may change over time. Again, something as important as human life should not be arbitrary or subjective.
Mark, viability doesn’t determine someone’s worth. Every human being has the Constitutional Right to Life. Life begins when 23 chromosomes from the father and 23 chromosomes from the mother combine to form a separate and unique individual.
Prenatal surgery is done routinely now on pre-born babies — those babies are not yet breathing air. They receive their oxygen via their mother’s placenta. The babies are most certainly deemed scientifically alive and medically a separate patient from their mother.
Robin, what is your reasoning for using viability as the marker for protecting a baby’s life? Genetically, a unique human being begins at conception when the 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 chromosomes from the father combine. From conception until death, that DNA will identify that unique human.
Viability doesn’t determine someone’s worth. Every human being has the Constitutional Right to Life. The pro-choice argument devalues human life. With its own unique set of DNA, a fetus has just as much of a right to life as you or I do. If a pregnant woman is killed, the person responsible for her death is sometimes charged for the death of the baby as well.
How can we justify abortion just because the fetus is in a dependent state? Aren’t children and the infirm in states of dependence? Should their continued existence be questioned?
Robin, even Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was a staunch supporter of abortion, articulated that Roe was a poorly crafted decision. Viability certainly is not a sound basis to determine a human’s life because it is shifting.
Even since Roe, the age of viability has become less due to progress in neonatal care. Robin, a person is a human and a human is a person. Scientifically each human life begins at conception.
