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Voice For Life
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Wellington
Phone (09) 443 0995
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THE UNBORN
When does human life begin?
Abortion kills the unborn and only something alive can be
killed
Science
It was once thought that human life began at the time of quickening or
on reaching the stage of pregnancy at which the movements of the foetus
first become perceptible, when the foetus first begins to manifest signs
of life. This position was taken in the absence of any other conclusive
evidence due to the limitations of science. Since then medical and scientific
technology and data has increased tremendously with ultrasound, photography,
and even surgery within the womb. You may recall the picture of Samuel
Armas who was operated on in 1999 to correct spina bifida. As Samuel was
being returned to his mother's uterus, his tiny hand reached out to clutch
the surgeon's finger. During the last few decades the age of viability
has reduced with the result that babes born at 20-21 weeks gestation are
surviving. What we are seeing is mounting evidence that it is a child
within the womb and not a cluster of cells that suddenly assumes a human
form during the process of birth. During this discussion we will examine
some of the scientific data now available. Whilst reviewing this data
we should always be mindful that it has been long held that life begins
at conception.
The Beginning of Life
Sperm enter the women's vagina, swim through the cavity in her uterus
and out through her fallopian tubes. It may only take 5 minutes to reach
the fallopian tubes and as little as another 15 minutes to reach the ovaries.
When the sperm penetrates the ovum "the egg reacts in a split second and
initiates a mechanism that prevents other sperm from penetrating. The
23 chromosomes from the male sperm combine with the 23 chromosomes from
the female. ovum and a new human life is created. Some 30 hours later
the first cell division occurs. At the one cell stage it is easy but erroneous
to make the comparison to any other single cell in the body. The first
single cell is probably the most complex type of cell that is likely to
be found anywhere as from it derives the complex anatomy of the human
being. A single cell from the skin is not capable of doing this.
At about one week of life, at the blastocyst stage of about 128 or 256
cells, it implants into the nutrient lining of the uterus. There only
three days later, this tiny child sends a chemical-hormonal message into
the mother's body, which stops her menstrual cycle.
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"Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception
[they defined fertilization and conception to be the same] marks
the beginning of the life of a human - a being that is alive and
is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement
on this point in countless medical, biological and scientific writings."
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Report, Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate
Judiciary Committee S-158,
97th Congress, 1st Session 1981, p.7
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"Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception."
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Professor J. Lejeune
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"It is an established fact that human life begins at conception."
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Professor H. Gordon, Mayo Clinic
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"It is scientifically correct to say that individual human life
begins at conception"
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Professor M. Matthews-Roth, Harvard University
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The DNA genetic signature proves that the unborn is human.
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The DNA indicates what kind of bodily form the adult is going
to take, even at the earliest stage the zygote is still human.
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Looks can be deceptive especially when we are not used it
but the DNA give unmistakable evidence
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If we watch the development long enough we will see the zygote
form into a more recognisable human shape.
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The zygote cannot develop in any direction, but only in a
way consistent with its internal structure or nature.
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The unborn does not change into a human it only looks more
human to our eyes.
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Living things don't become different creatures when they
change their outward appearance.
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Living beings develop according to a certain physical pattern
based on the kind of creature they already are.
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The Principle of Biogenesis Proves the Unborn is a Human
Being In the 19th century, scientist Louis Pasteur among others disproved
the theory of the spontaneous generation of life.
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a
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maggots don't spontaneously spring from discarded meat.
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b
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mice aren't spontaneously created from piles of rags. Pasteur's
discoveries led to the principles of biogenesis, which states
two things
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a
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all life comes from pre-existent life
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b
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each being reproduces after its own kind
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The unborn is genetically distinct from her parents. Unlike
sperm and ovum, the zygote possess the inherent capacity to develop into
an embryo, foetus, infant, child, adolescent and adult. Though the sperm
and ovum are human cellular material they will never become human beings.
In the same way a severed hand is totally human but will never become
a human.
A caterpillar does not look like a butterfly but we know
and accept that it undertakes a developmental stage to become one and
this fact is not disputed. The caterpillar, crystalis, and the butterfly
are merely developmental stages of the same creature even though the appearance
at various stages of development is markedly different.
If humans lose value when they don't conform to our perceptions
of what they should look like then there is no defence against racism
or ethnic cleansing.
The words "fertilisation" and "conception" were always used
to mean the union of the sperm and the ovum. However in the 1960's the
US FDA and the American College of OB&GYN agreed to redefine "conception"
to mean implantation which occurs 7 to 14 days later. NZ law refers to
implantation hence drugs or procedures used in the 1st 14 days are not
technically regarded as abortions even though they destroy a human life.
In this discussion we give the words their original meaning.
Consider what Dr Alan F Guttmacher said on the subject prior
to his advocacy for abortion;
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We of today know that man is born of sexual union; that he starts
life as an embryo within the body of the female; and that the embryo
is formed from the fusion of two cells, the ovum and the sperm….This
seems so simple and evident to us that it is difficult to picture
a time when it was not part of common knowledge.
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But 40 years of working with Planned Parenthood has altered
his thinking.
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Scientifically all we know is that a living human sperm unites
with a living human egg; it they were not living there could be
no union….Does human life begin before or with the union of gametes,
or with birth, or at some other intermediate time? I, for one confess,
I do not know.
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Dr Landrum Shettles, the first scientist to achieve conception
in a test tube, writes that conception not only confers life, but "defines
life"
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1st day
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the child's conception takes place
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7 day
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a tiny human implants in the mother's uterus
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10 days
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the mother's menses stop
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18 days
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the child's heart begins to beat
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the heart pumps own blood through separate closed circulatory system
with own blood type.
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the child's eyes, ears and respiratory system begin to form
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the brain waves can be recorded, skeleton is complete, reflexes
are present, hiccoughs first occur.
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thumbsucking has been photographed, startles first occur from 6-7
1/2 weeks
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all body systems are present, isolated arm movements begin about
7 1/4 to 8 1/2 weeks after conception. Breathing movements begin
during the eighth week. Stretches first occur during the eighth
week.
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the child squints, swallows, moves tongue and makes a fist. Rotations
of the head also begin from the middle of the seventh week after
conception to the middle of the tenth week.
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Hand to face contacts first occur 8 to 10 1/2 weeks after conception.
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spontaneous breathing movements, the child has fingernails and
all body systems are operating. Jaw openings and forward head movement
begin during 8 1/2 to 12 1/2 weeks after conception.
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the child weighs one ounce
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genital organs clearly differentiated, the child grasps with hands,
swims, kicks, turns and somersaults (still not felt by the mother)
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the vocal cords work and baby can cry
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Kenya King's birth, Florida, June 1985
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the child has hair on its head, weighs one pound, 12 inches long
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15% of babies survive premature birth
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56% of babies survive premature birth
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79% of babies survive premature birth
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normal birth
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During the whole process no further genetic material is
added. The mother supplies food and a warm environment in which the baby
can grow. This is the same pattern of nurturing that occurs after the
baby is born.
Philosophy
The arguments against the unborn are generally grounded in four areas
and we will consider those areas in turn. The examples are taken from
the writings of Francis Beckwith "Politically correct Death" pages 113-114
Size or physical appearance
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The unborn is smaller than the newborn. But a 6'5" basketball player
such as Larry Johnson is much bigger than my wife, Frankie Beckwith,
who is 4'11 3/4". It would be absurd to say that Frankie has less
moral value than Larry.
If someone says, "the fetus doesn't look human," ask, "if the fetus
doesn't look human, then you will have no objections to showing
pictures of aborted fetuses, will you?" People object to graphic
images precisely because the mangled forms look unmistakably human.
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Level of development
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A newborn baby is less developed than an adolescent, but that does
not mean that the newborn has less of a right to life. According
to Schwarz, "he is equally a person; he is the same person at his
earlier stage of development as at the later stages, or else it
would not be his development". Therefore, the fact that the unborn
is less developed than the newborn has no moral relevance.
Many disabled people are less "developed" than many newborns,
but that hardly justifies killing them. It raises the question,
"Do stronger, more capable, more intelligent people have more rights
than others?"
If a human being's value is determined by his abilities - by what
he can do or can't do - then all those who are handicapped are in
danger
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Environment
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Where one is is irrelevant to who one is. The fact that a child
may be in her mother's womb is a geographical fact, not a value
judgement. A newborn in an incubator is not worth less than one
in her mother's arms or one who is a week younger and still in her
mother's womb. It is easy to see that environment is not at all
morally relevant.
A person fishing for hapuka will know that when the fish rises to
the surface its swimbladder inflates to such an extent that it will
protrude through the mouth. This occurs because of the change in
environmental pressure. The Hapuka live under conditions of pressure
and removal from that environment is extremely detrimental to its
welbeing. To state the more obvious, removing a fish from the water
causes death but does not cause it to become something other than
a fish.
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Degree of dependency
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To a great degree we are all dependent on one another, some less
than others and some more than others. A person in a nursing home
is more dependent on another's care than a healthy twenty-five year
old attorney. Yet it seems obvious that the nursing home patient's
greater dependence does not disqualify his right to life. As Professor
Schwarz points out: "I remain myself through the various changes,
phases of growth and development, phases of relative dependence
or independence, that pertain to my body. I am not any less me because
my body may be in a state of greater dependence than at another
time. Thus we see that dependency through connection to another
person has nothing to do with being a person. It only has to do
with how the body is sustained." Consequently, the fact that the
unborn through most of her development is physically dependent on
her mother has no moral bearing as to her nature or whether she
is a person with a full right to life."
There is reliance placed on the viability of the unborn and
at what age this is attained. By this it is held that a child is
capable of surviving outside the womb. This argument is based on
an unsound premise as it ignores the fact that the baby is quite
incapable of fending for itself for some years after its birth and
in some instances will need to be cared for the entirety of her
life. Does such a person fail to become a human person.
If dependency determines worth, then no moral principle protects
the weak and vulnerable from the strong and powerful.
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