When do you believe that a fetus becomes a baby, and why?

Question

This is a question about abortion. Some people say that a fetus does not become a separate life -- a baby, if you will -- until a certain stage of development, and therefore abortion up to that point is acceptable. Others say that a fetus is a baby from the moment of conception, and therefore abortion is unacceptable at any time.

When is abortion acceptable or unacceptable, and why? Answers a bit more complicated than "because God says so" would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Answer 1

Thre is no single answer to this question. I appreciate the idea that life begins at conception (although biologically, the egg and sperm are living too). Since we are also largely products of our environment (nurture) than genes (nature), I also appreciate the view that life begins at birth.
I studied at a genetics clinic for a year, and had to walk past protesters who accused me of being a Nazi, a eugenicist and a baby killer. I spent a long time wrestling with this question....after much thought, I decided personally that life began when I judged the embryo to be recognizably human to me. As a scientist, I like to answer questions with my brain, but in this instance, I decided I had to decide by my gut reaction. I have no problem with first trimester abortions. I am increasingly uncomfortable with 2nd trimester abortions, and I am opposed to 3rd trimester abortions.
As a liberal, I used to think that abortion clinic protesters were full of crap but some of my students are nurses who have worked in abortion clinics...Many of the horror stories are true. Some late-term aborted fetuses are born alive, and are quickly dispatched. I am repulsed by this and I am re-evaluating my previously held beliefs.

Answer 2

A fetus is a baby from the time of conception- The DNA of that person is determined, the sex of the child is determined, the heart is beating at 3 weeks, etc. Abortion is murder from the time of conception. If a "fetus" was killed by someone by stabbing the mother in the stomach- and if the mother died as well- it would be a double murder, no matter the development stage of the baby or fetus. But if that same mom walked into an abortion clinic it would be called choice. I just do not think that is logical thinking do you? Choice does not make killing right, anymore than having abortion legal makes it right. Sometimes I wish that scientists had never come up with the word fetus, because if they just say what it really is, a BABY, maybe many would have had a chance to be born.

Answer 3

I believe the moment of conception. After weeks inside my womb and I heard the heart beat, I thought, no way can someone say that this is not a life! If I had aborted my two children, than I would not be blessed today with their different personalities and felt their bonding presence. I see standing before me humans who will make a difference in life but that would not be so if I had aborted them. The would not have a name, a voice, a heart beat. What if I had been aborted? What if my mother? The linage would have stopped. That is why I love God so much because He loves me more than any human or their perception or notions can. I prefer His wisdom for my life.

Answer 4

Well, I think it is a life at conception, but certainly anyone would have to say it is alive once its heart begins to beat. After all, if something has a beating heart, it is said to be alive...whether it is an animal or a human. My Christian beliefs tell me that it is wrong to kill another human, so I can't justify stopping the heart of a human just for convenience's sake. I don't agree with those who say that until it is capable of life outside the mother's body, it is not a human baby. Bear with me...if you have all the ingredients to make a cake
but they're not mixed together, you don't have a cake. (same as sperm and egg...not 'mixed' together) But from the moment you mix the cake up in the bowl, you have a cake forming. From the time you put it in the oven (implantation of egg in uterus) to the time it is taken out (birth) you technically have a cake (baby) but it is just at different stages. Left to bake til it's 'done' it will be a beautiful creation. If taken out too early, you don't exclaim 'Oh no, my CAKE BATTER is ruined!" You say "Oh my CAKE isn't done". Same with a baby...if you miscarry early, no one says "Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your embryo" they say "I'm so sorry you lost your BABY". It's only an embryo to those who don't want to admit to killing a BABY. So that's why I don't believe in abortion.

Answer 5

i think that the life that is began even before conception.
God new us before we were born i think that its kind of like this
a line of souls is on a plane each one waiting with a parachute on . the souls know that there are great risks involved in the jump.
they also know that the rewards are great and that God has made it clear to the people NO KILLING.
the soul then jumps God has a landing spot all picked out for that soul that landing spot is the moment of conception that he has made possible in the women .
so well we cant kill a soul we can kill a person that is just as much a person as me just really a soul waiting for the temple that he is to dwell in is under construction.
when abortion takes place the soul that so wanted to live here in this place finds that his chance of doing so and gaining the great rewards during and after have been stopped in violation of GODS plan .
have an abortion and you don't just kill a person you destroy a place God himself has made.

Answer 6

after conception if left to it's own it will be a human adult eventually unless diseased or murdered ;which do abortionists prefer.Are people so incredibly lacking that they can't control their procreative processes any better than resorting to murder .
Why shouldn't the issue be instilling a little character in the generation so blindly and foolishly born by the parents of those poor uninformed heart bound children giving birth without thought or responsibility.All medical exceptions excluded . If the injustice of rape is the problem murder is not a solution and even the plaintif of the roe vs wade case has changed their mind.

Answer 7

This is my opinion only. I think a fetus does not become a baby until the quickening, that is when it first starts to move in the mother. However, I do not think that it is governed by any laws of mankind until it is in this world and able to breath on its own. That is why I am pro-choice. Not all religions think that abortion is wrong. Not everyone is religious. We can not impose the religious views of some on everyone in a country where there is separation of church and state.

Answer 8

I am an atheist and I am pro-life/anti-choice from the moment of conception.

I do not make an exception for rape or incest because multiple studies have shown that victims who carry to term and keep or adopt-out have lower rates of depression, lower average levels of depression, lower rates of attempted suicide, and lower rates of successful suicide. Therefore, opposing abortion in these cases is protecting the mother.

I make one and ONLY one exception -- if the mother cannot bear the child to the age of viability, even at the sacrifice of her own life, she may abort. For example, tubal pregnancies are dual-fatal if not interrupted -- better the mother live than both be condemned. If the mother CAN make it to the age of viability, though it would cause her death, she is morally obligated to make that sacrifice -- she has lived a portion of her life and expended some of her human potential, the child still posesses 100% of its human potential.

I view morality as a calculation of potential. A thing that increases potential without unduly removing potential from others is morally permissable, while a thing that decreases potential or unduly removes potential is not moral.

Answer 9

Abortion is murder and unacceptable in every case. Life begins at conception, read Psalms 139. When your mom was told she was pregnant, the doctor didn't tell her she was having a fetus, he said a baby. Abortion is murder, and I would die before I would kill my unborn child. I don't care if my doctor told me having my child would kill me, I'd leave it in God's hands, let Him be the decider if I live or die. My life is in His hands to begin with, so that's how I feel about it.

Answer 10

Science proves that there is a unique separate individual at the moment of conception. With time, it will grow and people will see it is a human being. Everyone started as an embryo. At the moment of conception every person gets a soul. Man is matter and spirit.