Part IV
When Does Human Life Begin?
What Does Science Say?
1. What
determines if an organism is living or not?
Answer:
Any organism that exhibits the seven traits of life—metabolism, excitability,
conductivity, contractility, growth, differentiation and reproduction—is
living.
2. What
is the first sign of human life?
Answer:
Dr. Bradley M. Patten, distinguished author of Foundations of Embryology,
stated that every individual of the higher animals begins its life as a single
cell, the fertilized ovum (egg) which is called a zygote. The zygote is formed
by the fusion of one ovum from the female and one sperm from the male.
Scientifically, this begins the life of a new individual. The 23 chromosomes
from the father and the 23 chromosomes from the mother unite to form a unique
human being. No more genetic input will ever be needed for the development of
this new person’s life! Embryology is the study of the growth and
differentiation of an organism from conception to birth.
3. Does
the growing embryo exhibit the seven signs of life?
Answer:
Yes, the zygote and its following stages—morula, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus—all exhibit the seven signs of life. To deliberately interrupt this chain of
living, growing stages at any time in the individual's life is to cause that
individual's death.
4. Is it
true that scientists disagree about when life begins?
Answer:
Yes, but the disagreement was not based on scientific facts. When, in 1981, the
Executive Board of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
issued a statement opposing restrictions on abortions, it argued that no one can
tell when human life begins. It focused on the “cost-effectiveness” of
abortion in dealing with the social, economical, and psychological problems in
society. They reduced moral choices to economic choices. Since it is cheaper to
procure an abortion than to love and rear a child, some in our society would
rather kill their innocent, preborn babies than accept any economic
responsibilities. Many members of the ACOG protested this new attitude based on
“no one knows when life begins.” Dr. Richard Jaynes, for example, stated in Obstetrics
and Gynecological News: “To say that the beginning of human life cannot be
determined scientifically . . . is utterly ridiculous.”
5. Has
Congress investigated when human life begins?
Answer:
Yes, in 1981 the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee held hearings on the
issue of when human life begins. Pro-abortionists, though encouraged to do so,
failed to produce even a single expert witness who would specifically testify
that life begins at any other point than conception or implantation. The great
majority of experts testified that life begins at conception. One witness
testified that no one can say when human life begins but offered no scientific
facts. The following are quotes of the overwhelming majority of scientific
experts (Shettles and Rorvik, Rites of Life,
Zondervan,
p. 114):
Dr. Watson Bowes, Jr., of the
University of Colorado Medical School, stated that: “The beginning of a
single human life is from a biological point of view a simple and
straightforward matter—the beginning is conception. This straightforward
biological fact should not be distorted to serve sociological, political, or
economic goals.”
Dr. Michiline Matthews-Roth,
Research Associate of Harvard University Medical School, asserted: “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.”
Dr. McCarthy De Mere, a
practicing physician and a Law Professor at the University of Tennessee,
stated: “The exact moment of the beginning (of) personhood and of the human
body is at the moment of conception.”
6.
Do some argue that life begins at implantation?
Answer:
Implantation is the process of the fertilized ovum attaching itself to the
lining of the uterus several days after conception. Some argue that without
implantation the new, living organism cannot be nourished and cannot survive.
Implantation is an important embryological event, but it in no way defines life.
It is a condition attained after a living organism is conceived and by which
life is maintained once it has already started.
7. Do
fetuses really function like adults?
Answer:
The growth and development of a preborn baby, especially in the early months, is
quite miraculous. Neonatal research has indicated that the heart begins beating
as early as 18 days after conception, and by 40 days its energy output is about
20 percent of an adult’s. At 43 days brain waves can be detected, and by eight
weeks all the body organs are present and functioning. The rapidly developing
preborn baby becomes extremely sensitive to sound, pressure, heat, light, and
even pain.
8. Does
science prove that life begins at conception—just as Scripture says?
Answer:
Yes, both Scripture and science agree that the baby at conception is a human
being with potential—not a potential human being. Birth is not the beginning
of life. It is only a change of residence for an already living child of God.
For
Part V click
here.
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