When does life commence?

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There is a difference in biological life and sentient life. The issue becomes murky and gray later into the pregnancy, but in the early stages the pro-life argument holds little water, especially before neuronal growth or early in the brain's development.

So the next issue is causality, that the fetus, even if a pro-life individual can assure it has no "feelings," may (and "may" is the operative word here, as Sam Harris notes, God is the biggest abortionist of all) one day become human. Now, where does this chain of causality end? If the destruction of a zygote is equivalent to infanticide, then why not the death of semen? Why stop here? Using this logic, interrupting sex could be considered murder since it is halting an act that may lead to a human being.

Hmm.... maybe the pro-life people have a point!

IMO the life takes its own course of growth (even if dependent) at conception.


That aside though, I think the real question in regard to abortion is when is it still humane. Probably first trimester, second is pushing it, late term - there better be something terribly wrong with the delivery to where a c-section is out of the question and both baby and mother would die (procrastination's absolutely no excuse there).

However, after the egg is fertilized it is human.

Genetically, absolutely, but I still do not see the destruction of which equivalent to murder if there is no sentience.

I'll admit though - I do believe in REALLY late term abortion, when you've got a 20 something or over who's pretty much a career killer. That's of course a whole other discussion though.

As opposed to being some other species before it's fertilized? Terminology, terminology....

But the egg and millions of sperm are also human - they have human DNA. And they are alive.

So, now the argument as to when a human becomes sentient. *sigh* Well, at least you aren't like some who seem to imply that a fetus mystically becomes human after it completely passes through the magical tunnel of the birth canal...

Even the ovum of a flowering plant has to be fertilized before a fertile seed is produced. There are cases of parthenogenesis in some varieties of life, but, with the exception of Mary, humans don't undergo such a process.

That belief is common through history, and is no stranger than other ideas. Some religions link the soul to breath (prana or chi), and believe that life begins when the first breath is taken.

In other news, the Greek word conspiracy literally means to breathe together.

I have kept my religion out of this, why do you bring this up? Scientifically it is invalid.

Life commences when the children grow up and move out.

LOL. Unless the children remain financially attached from a distance.

So, up to that point they can be aborted if the mother so feels like it?

Sentience isn't a good metric because newborns really aren't aware of their own independent existance for quite some time. Some people who are born severely disabled will never be sentient.