At what time or moment does life begin?

Question

Can one say life begins after sex.

Answer 1

The sperm is alive, the egg is alive, and a fertilized egg is also alive. So, life did not begin--life continued. If allowed to grow, the fertilized egg will gradually become a fetus, then an infant, than an adult human. There is no special time where we can say "before this point, this is not a human being, but after this point, it is." Ain't no easy answers here, folks.

Answer 2

That's probably an un-answerable question, since people have different defintiions for what "life" is.
Personally I think a fetus isn't a human being until it could survive on its own outside the womb. Lots of other people have different definitions. The only definitions that don't have much scientific ground to stand on are the ones that claim life begins immediately at the fertilization of the egg -- for quite some time after that, it's just a collection of cells, nothing more.
Other possibly "valid" defintions would be when the heart starts beating, when there's the first sign of brain activity, when the fetus is capable of respiration (breathing), etc.

Answer 3

SEPTEMBER 21, 1989, was an unusual day for the Fifth Judicial District of the State of Tennessee, U.S.A. On that day the circuit court handed down an opinion on a custody dispute over seven frozen human embryos. The court had to decide which of the divorcing parents was entitled to custody. However, first another issue cried out for settlement: Are the embryos to be considered property or human beings?

Professor Jerome Lejeune of Paris, world-famous geneticist, testified before the court that each human has a unique beginning, which occurs at the moment of conception and that “as soon as he has been conceived, a man is a man.” In other words, beginning at the three-cell stage (zygote), the embryos are, as he told the court, “tiny human beings”!—Italics ours.

When asked if he was testifying that the zygote should be treated with the same rights as an adult, Dr. Lejeune answered: “I’m not telling you that because I’m not in a position of knowing that. I’m telling you, he is a human being, and then it is a Justice who will tell whether this human being has the same rights as the others. . . . But as a geneticist you ask me whether this human being is a human, and I would tell you that because he is a being and being human, he is a human being.”

Based primarily on Dr. Lejeune’s unrebutted testimony, three of the courts salient conclusions are:

□ “From fertilization, the cells of a human embryo are differentiated, unique and specialized to the highest degree of distinction.”

□ “Human embryos are not property.”
□ “Human life begins at conception By [e-mail]
in case you need more e-mail. Hope This will help you. Have a nice day. Jace

Answer 4

Though impossible to be precicely accurate here, life as we know it (from a conception perspective) likely begins at development after fertilization.

Now, life that we as humans actually care to recognize as protectively important is a far different matter, and changes with the opinions and ideals of each and every one of us. From a democratic, constitutional standard, life begins after the second trimester.

Currently in the US, that's just the way it is. Can it change either way? Sure it can.

Answer 5

no, conception does not always begin right after sex Sperm can hang out for up to three days waiting for an egg to show up.

I don't have an answer for the beginning of life but conception is when the one ("...there can be only one.") swimmer hits the mark.

Answer 6

life begins after born

Answer 7

Life begins when a plant or animal can survive on it's own. If technology assists survival; it is still life. However, technology requires support. Herein lies the debate of abortion, assisted suicide and assisted life support. If human decision supports technology, life begins at that point. If support for survival technology does not exsist, then life begins when a plant or animal can survive on it's own.

Answer 8

No you can't.
Life begins at birth.
That's when you legally and physiologically become a human being.

Uh, yeah, parasites are alive because they depend on a host, much like some of you are describing... so the fetus is alive, as a parasite? That's what you are suggesting...

Answer 9

Well an embryo doesn't have a heartbeat until 4 to 6 weeks after conception, so I'd have to say then...

Answer 10

the heart beat .. yeah that's pretty good...it's well before birth because fetus' have working body organs and even try to breath while they are in the womb...but with out the breath of life oxygen they are not alive..because if we don't have oxygen we die...I'dunno i never really thought about it tat way... I guess ther eis no really right answer..only God knows