When is a baby a human being and why?

Question

Is it as soon as the sperm fertilizes the egg? Is it when the sperm enters the woman, even before it hits the egg (and therefore spermicides are wrong)? Is it the potential in the unfertilized egg (and does that mean that the menstrual cycle is wrong)? Is it the potential in sperm - and should sperm never be 'wasted'? At what stage of egg fertilization is it a human being? And what is the reason for this determination?

Answer 1

Life is everywhere. But the law now agrees that human life and the taking of human life is when a zygote is no longer a parasite. Too big an idea? It boils down to this: Every cell in your body can become a human thru cloning. If one were to carry this to extreme, it would be wrong, morally wrong, to cut out any tumor, any flap of skin, because any of that tissue, given the right set of circumstances could become human..... And therefore to destroy it could be claimed to be murder. Therefore the law (United States, and most Ekuropean countries) regards a human being as one that could live outside the womb, independently. Up until that time, whether the cells are growing in a uterus, or on one's arm they are just cells. It becomes murder if the unborn foetus is removed and it could have lived independently. Thus, in the eyes of the law, first trimester abortion is simply the removal of a clump of cells...those cells have the POTENTIAL to become human, just as I have the potential to learn chinese. I'm not going to, because I still have the power of choice. A woman still has the power of choice over her own body, until those cells represent a human.

Helpful?
(to answer some more of your question: some eastern religions believe that every egg in the menstral cycle is a being begging to be born, and to therefore not fertilize it is a sin against the gods.... happily, in the US we do not believe that to be the case. Evolution designed us to produce many more children that were ever expected to live. Even as late as 200 years ago, more than half of all children died before age one, and more than half of those never made it to age 5, and the average age of a life span was 33 years -- still that in parts of Africa and India and rural China. Without birth control, an average woman can usually produce 14 or so live babies. do the math.... approx 2 would live to be adults. That worked quite well in limiting populations until antibiotics hospitals, hygiene etc. Now it is a rare occurrance for a couple to loose a child, or for the mother to die in childbirth...at least here in the US and in European countries.)

Helpful? Don't know how old you are, or what your educational background is, but hope this was not all lost on you...

Answer 2

This question is the entire center of the controvery on abortion. Many devout people believe life begins at the moment of conception, or even before, when eggs are unfertilized and sperm have no place to go to fertilize an egg.

The age that a fetus can exist outside the uterus continues to get pushed back due to advances in medical technology. Premature babies that would have died if born just a few years ago can easily survive today. Some people define the moment a baby becomes human as the age at which it can exist if born early.

But there is no agreement or determination on who is right.

Answer 3

This is a heated issue and one that is not clearly answerable. Some say the minute and egg is fertilized it is a human. Medically though pregnacy doesn't occur until the fertilized egg implants properly. For various reasons a very large number of fertilized eggs just don't and "abort" spontaneously. Some feel that God is so involved in the baby making process it is wrong to use birth control and deny God the right to decide if someone will become pregnant. Pretty weird stuff to me but to each his own. Problem is some of them are working hard to get their viewpoints implemented into government policies that affect the world.

Answer 4

A human is created at conception, the reasoning for this is that at any other time, there is the pesky question of what about a instant before. Until the egg is fertilized with the sperm you just have 2 different things, once the conception takes place all that can follow is growth into a bigger stronger person.
Peace Always,

Answer 5

A Baby becomes a living being when the egg and sperm meet and at this time the FETUS begins to grow. Anything that is alive will grow anything that is dead cannot grow. Anything that has to do with life is a growing thing. The life is in the blood and the blood brings oxygen to the different parts of the body When a person dies his cells stop growing., and the breathing stops the heart stops beating, the blood flow of oxygen is cut off No Blood No oxygen No life

Answer 6

The moment of conception , the moment cellular division and therefore reproduction of the cells and the creation of embryogenesis for the individual life begins. In other words, the moment that a human baby begins to be developed and would develop under normal embryogenesis without interference -- that is at the moment of conception the life cycle develops that would not stop.

The individual egg or individual sperm left to themselves would do nothing. Eggs stay with the woman for life if not used or destroyed by cancer or other illness and a males body continually absorbs old sperm and creates fresh sperm. Both of these in and of themselves are the end in themselves and have no trigger of to create embryogenesis by themselves.

Answer 7

I believe it becomes an actual human once the egg and sperm have succesfully made a fetus. The egg and sperm are just the seeds, but they combine to form this beautiful creation. Once there is a fetus, then there is a baby.

Answer 8

As soon as the egg is fertilized.
By the time the woman knows she's pregnant, her baby has a heartbeat. And obviously, since I call it a baby and not a fetus, it is a living human being, in my opinion.
It's my opinion that destroying the potential isn't wrong; it's responsible, if the people involved don't want a child.

Answer 9

Abortion has continually been a sin in the Christian church from the early centuries so count while the abortion exceeded off in the being pregnant till only the previous century. besides the fact that, the seriousness of the sin has numerous in accordance with while Christianity believed the ensoulment of the fetus exceeded off (while the soul enters the fetus). In Aristotle's day, the ensoulment exceeded off with quickening with the 1st emotions of the newborn's action in the mummy's womb. Abortions formerly quickening have been seen much less severe sins. After the quickening, it may well be seen homicide. It remained this style till the sixteenth by using nineteenth centuries while Catholicism moved ensoulment between quickening and concept and decrease back. It finally landed on concept in the nineteenth century while a Papal Bull indicated that abortion may well be met with excommunication, devoid of the exclusion of abortion formerly quickening. in view that then, this is been homicide to abort a toddler at any time after concept by employing the Catholic Church. With secularism in the twentieth century, some Christian church homes began to flow removed from this to allow abortion for the ease of the mummy. Even in the present day, there are various church homes that have self belief that God's regulation is what would desire to lead Christians, and not guy's regulation. those church homes proceed to have self belief that abortion is homicide, that Jesus who grow to be continually the protector of youngsters might in no way condone the taking of the existence of a toddler in a mom's womb. For a real believer to appreciate Christian historical past, have self belief that an abortion can ensue, and that the possibility that a severe sin did no longer ensue against God, is a "handy Christian" - only believing the God's rules do no longer would desire to persist with to them right this moment, in this 2nd.

Answer 10

I would say fertilization. Having the potential to create a human being and having one are two different things.