Defination of Life

[Jiperly]

At its core, this issue is simply about when does life begin- is the fetus indeed a living human being, or a unconcious alligamation of cells no more human than a houseplant?

Points of Interest

Heart Beat begins 3 weeks after conception

Brainwaves start 6 weeks after conception

On weither Fetus's can feel pain
~~Some doctors believe they feel pain at 7 weeks, when the pain receivers develop in the fetus- 59% of abortions are done before this point
~~the Majority believe it is when the pain receivers make the connections brains- this is not done until 26 weeks after conception- less than 1% of Abortions are done after this point

Coinciousness is also believed to start at 26 weeks



So, when do you believe life begins?


EDIT: Fixing a typo....

[anastrophe]

what it all boils down to is that crucial word - 'believe'.

it is impossible to *know* when life begins. we can come to a great many positions on when those who are already among the living believe that life begins, but no science, no religion, will ever be able to say definitively when human life begins. certainly, they can say so within the limits of their beliefs. but until we can define the human soul (we never will), we'll never define when life begins.

in my opinion, naturally.

[john8pies]

I generally speaking agree with anostrophe, with the proviso that , until a baby is actually `born` it isn`t really a baby is it? i mean, it isn`t fully formed? Just wondered

[Jiperly]

The Offical term is fetus, but I seriously doubt anyone cares if you call it a "Baby" unless you milk the term to gain support from misconceptions

[billyandmichellecoffey]

Originally Posted by john8pies

I generally speaking agree with anostrophe, with the proviso that , until a baby is actually `born` it isn`t really a baby is it? i mean, it isn`t fully formed? Just wondered

How do you think a child could get fully form when it is born? Do you think that when the outside air comes in contact with the baby that somehow it transforms from a glob to a human being?

And if that was so then why do we hear heart beats at 3 weeks of conception? I dont think that something human would have a heart beat if it was not forming inside the mother.

Just wondering

[Lon]

Originally Posted by Jiperly

At its core, this issue is simply about when does life begin- is the fetus indeed a living human being, or a unconcious alligamation of cells no more human than a houseplant?

Points of Interest

Heart Beat begins 3 weeks after conception

Brainwaves start 6 weeks after conception

On weither Fetus's can feel pain
~~Some doctors believe they feel pain at 7 weeks, when the pain receivers develop in the fetus- 59% of abortions are done before this point
~~the Majority believe it is when the pain receivers make the connections brains- this is not done until 26 weeks after conception- less than 1% of Abortions are done after this point

Coinciousness is also believed to start at 26 weeks



So, when do you believe life begins?


EDIT: Fixing a typo....

In my opinion, life begins when one can interact with one's suroundings as well as other's.

[David813]

Originally Posted by Lon

In my opinion, life begins when one can interact with one's suroundings as well as other's.

I agree with you Lon. You can't have rights until you're born.

[billyandmichellecoffey]

Originally Posted by Lon

In my opinion, life begins when one can interact with one's suroundings as well as other's.

I dont know if you are a man or a woman but if you are a man then you will not know this from experience but if are a woman then you will know that the child that is growing inside of you does interact with you at the ( in my situation) 3 month period. I know that if touched my stomach with something cold that my child would kick.

The further along that i got the more that my child interacted with me.

Speaking of science, they say that a child can hear what you are saying while in the womb. If they are not a human then how can they kick or hiccup or hear what is being said outside of the womb.

When i was about 7 months pregnant i was having some complications due to stressful situations in my life my doctor told me that there was a chance that my stress could transfer to my child and cause problems he said that by listening to soothing music and putting head phones onto my stomach that it would relax both my and my CHILD.

[ggmuze]

While the fetus is in the whomb it can not sustain itself. All functions of the organs are fed by the mother. The fetus does and can NOT exist on its own without the mother, or in an extreme case a machine of some sort.
The emotional connection a mother may have with the potential life inside of them is not a valid marker for whether it is actually "alive." And this is precisely what we are dealing with: the fetus has the POTENTIAL to live, but that does not gaurantee, nor can any other human on the planet gaurantee, that a living being will come to fruition out of the fetus hooked up to his/her mother.

[vitaeb]

There's no question in my mind of when life begins. The sperm is alive. The egg is alive. The embryo is alive. The fetus is alive. All of life is alive. Even the grass and the rocks are alive.

I think it is the question of consciousness that ought to be examined. When does consciousness begin? Now here is another slippery slope. I'm betting no two responses will be alike. There are some who declare that every cell in your body demonstrates consciousness. If so -- and I feel it is so -- then what becomes of that consciousness when a fetus is aborted? Perhaps consciousness moves from locale to locale the way atoms do. I am told by science that we release atoms and take in atoms with every out-and-in breath. We are given to believe that our bodies are replaced by these new atoms, organ by organ. Something like five months of breathing causes our stomachs to be totally replaced with new atoms.

And since the number of atoms in the universe neither increases nor diminishes, some of my atoms are in your body. Hitler's atoms are scattered among us all no doubt. As is Gandhi's.

I believe the issue of abortion can only be sensibly discussed in terms of actuality. When a woman becomes pregnant, then her precise circumstances -- physical, emotional, economical, and in terms of family support, religious or spiritual support, or any kind of support -- all these factors will determine her course of action.

We -- particularly us men -- can sit and talk about this issue till we're blue in the face. We will only be talking abstractions. In other words, we wil not be discussing anything that is actual. The world of theoretics can get mighty heady. And mean. And cruel. Theoretical speculation can easily lead to awkward imperatives.

One man's view