Dr. Seuss once said, “A person is a person, no matter how small”. Abortion is a topic of debate across the world, and almost everyone has very strong feelings about it one way or the other. This topic raises hard to answer questions such as: when does life begin? At conception? At birth? Somewhere in between? It’s a difficult question to answer, but many have tried to define a line. Although a fetus does have some rights, I believe the fetus and embryo should have nearly complete protection and the development of their senses should be taken into consideration when debating this topic. Between conception and 20-24 weeks, a fetus has little to no rights separate from the mother, depending on which state the abortion occurs in. An embryo is
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A single cell is considered the smallest form of life, a living organism, and I believe that to be true. I believe that at conception, when sperm meets egg, that fertilized egg, or zygote, is the smallest form of human life. This happens naturally, when a man and a woman have sex, the natural result is pregnancy. If someone is not able to or does not want to have a baby, perhaps instead of having an abortion as a solution to the “problem”, they should considered abstaining from sex, or using multiple ways of effective protection. Putting my Christian worldview aside, a strong case could still be made to protect a fetus’s right to live. A heartbeat is a sign of life, and a heartbeat can be found as early as week 6 of gestation (American Pregnancy Association, 2010). A person is not declared legally dead until their heart has stopped beating, and therefore a person should be considered legally alive at least when their heart starts beating. Not only is this my opinion, but is the opinion of a committee assembled by the U.S. Senate, comprised of some of the world’s most prominent scientists who believe that life begins at conception. One of these scientists, Dr. Alfred M. Bongionanni, a professor in the field of pediatrics and obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania quoted, “I submit that human life is present throughout this entire sequence from conception to adulthood and that any interruption at any point throughout this time constitutes a termination of human life…” (Alcorn, n.d.). Another scientist, Dr. Jerome Lejeune, who discovered the chromosome patter of Down syndrome, stated, “After fertilization has taken place a new human being has come into being. This no longer a matter of taste or opinion, not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence… Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception” (Alcorn, n.d.).
A single cell is considered the smallest form of life, a living organism, and I believe that to be true. I believe that at conception, when sperm meets egg, that fertilized egg, or zygote, is the smallest form of human life. This happens naturally, when a man and a woman have sex, the natural result is pregnancy. If someone is not able to or does not want to have a baby, perhaps instead of having an abortion as a solution to the “problem”, they should considered abstaining from sex, or using multiple ways of effective protection. Putting my Christian worldview aside, a strong case could still be made to protect a fetus’s right to live. A heartbeat is a sign of life, and a heartbeat can be found as early as week 6 of gestation (American Pregnancy Association, 2010). A person is not declared legally dead until their heart has stopped beating, and therefore a person should be considered legally alive at least when their heart starts beating. Not only is this my opinion, but is the opinion of a committee assembled by the U.S. Senate, comprised of some of the world’s most prominent scientists who believe that life begins at conception. One of these scientists, Dr. Alfred M. Bongionanni, a professor in the field of pediatrics and obstetrics at the University of Pennsylvania quoted, “I submit that human life is present throughout this entire sequence from conception to adulthood and that any interruption at any point throughout this time constitutes a termination of human life…” (Alcorn, n.d.). Another scientist, Dr. Jerome Lejeune, who discovered the chromosome patter of Down syndrome, stated, “After fertilization has taken place a new human being has come into being. This no longer a matter of taste or opinion, not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence… Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception” (Alcorn, n.d.).