Definition of Human life

The definition of human life is truly the core of the entire abortion issue. The question of when does life begin has, in fact, never been decided official by the court of law. Because the court of 1973 could not come to a conclusion on this issue they decided to leave this determination up to the mother and the doctor. Since 1973, however, much more medical information about the fetus and embryo has been discovered and I would argue that if the court truly looked into the reality of human life…it would come to realize that human life can only begin at conception. Here, is why:

Let us begin with how many may define the beginning of life.

One definition is that birth is the beginning of human life. But is the action of giving birth truly the creation of life? Does something magical happen at this moment? No. Some say that God puts the soul into a baby the moment he or she is born. But I would ask, "Where does this wisdom you argue as fact come from? What proof are you using? What about the fact that newborn babies recognize the voice of their mothers and fathers, can learn in the womb, and are comforted by positions, sounds, and feelings that resemble life in the womb once they are born? The moment before birth the child is the same being as the moment after.


Other people define life or personhood as beginning when the baby would be able to survive outside of the womb. But I would argue this age of which many call "the age of viability," changes often with the improvement of technology. Babies have been known to survive outside the womb as early as 5 months gestation, so what about 4 and a half months or even 3 and a half. No matter the age, the child is the same being with the same DNA, just younger.


Also how can we say that a baby's dependency on the mother dictates his or her personhood while a new born is also completely dependant, unable to survive on his or her own? Thus by this definition a human would not be a person until after infancy and probably after childhood, when he is more "viable" for life independent from others.


So if we reject that being viable is what makes a child alive does life begin when an unborn baby looks like a baby or acts like a baby? What about the child shown in this video at 12 week? Or the 8 week baby? The toes and hands and eyes are clearly distinguishable. Do these look like babies? How can you look at a little 6 to 7 week being and say, "You are a nothing but a meaningless blob of cells?"


As seen in the ultrasound of a 10 week baby:

the child moves almost constantly. According to a study by the University hospital of Groningen in the Netherlands, unborn babies are never still for more than 13 minutes at a time during the 8 to 19 week stage. They move arms and legs, suck, swallow, jump, and even have the hiccups beginning in the later weeks of the first trimester. Therefore with what wisdom will we draw this line of what is a living baby while the baby does so much in the womb?


Some define life as a heart beat. In this video babies as early as 6-7 weeks are shown with beating heart in ultrasound.


The embryo's heart begins to beat at 18 to 21 days after conception, before a woman even knows she is pregnant.


So is this a safe or wise line to draw?-The heart beat? Well what about the second before the heart beats? What about the minute hour or day before? The child's substance is the still present with unique human DNA separate from the mother and the father. At the moment of conception the baby's sex, hair color, appearance-- every biological part and process of the baby has been set.

A human being has been created.

Even abortionists accept this:

One doctor quotes, "I have the utmost respect for life; I appreciate that life starts early in the womb, but also believe that I’m ending it for good reasons.... So yes, I end life, but even when it’s hard, it’s for a good reason"(Cheryl Alkon "Confessions of an Abortion Doctor" Boston Magazine December 2004)

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