Life; when does it begin?

Question

Some may argue murder is ok whenever the person deserves it. Like death row… Or back in the 1800’s when people would have hangings of convicts as means of entertainment. But what about innocent life? On my subject the question isn’t whether the life is innocent, but is it living? Abortion; one of the most controversial subjects of all time. Is it right? Who’s to say its wrong? When does life start; conception, after the vitals work or at birth? If you study every organic substance… plants, animals, humans, and microscopic organisms; we would agree that these things do live and eventually they die. So let’s question conception. A sperm cell and an egg cell both cells both living. During conception a sperm fertilizes an egg… not soon afterwards it becomes a zygote. Are zygotes living? Yes. Because how can a dead cell multiply itself against itself; from 1 to 2, 4, 8, and 16 and so on until that one alive cell multiplies into billions and billions of other living cells. So since life is present due to the living cells; the question now is time. Well, what time should I get rid of this before I feel like I’m killing something? Time; is only a symbol. What is time? Your time is your life. Time is life and life is existence so who’s to say the zygote that spent time in your womb, isn’t existing? I keep hearing people say we should respect the “potential” life of unborn babies. Why should respect potential life when the cells are already living?

secretsauce I totally agree with you, but I don't understand why people question if a zygote made by humans isn't human. A man and a woman cannot come together and make an animal...

Answer 1

At the risk of wading in to the political quagmire that is the abortion question.

The question is not "when does life begin?''

The question is "when does *human* life begin?"

I know of no biologist who would deny that an egg and a sperm are both alive, and that the resulting zygote is also alive.

The question is whether this zygote is now a human being.

This is not a simple biological question. This is the question over which there is deep division.

Certainly from a purely biological point of view, while both "living", a single-celled zygote moments after fertilization is a different kind of organism than a full-term baby about to be born. That zygote has no more sentience than a red blood cell. If that zygote were to be lost spontaneously (as typically happens), we don't hold a funeral.

So historically, biologically, we differentiate between a zygote and a baby. So the political quagmire is over where one becomes the other ... when the developing zygote/embryo/fetus/baby deserves the full status of "human being."

It is not a simple question.

Answer 2

I can tell from reading what you have written you already know the answer. The first living cells started a couple billion years ago and all since then have come from those cells.

"Potential" life of unborn babies is a minomer. Every single egg and sperm cell could be called "potential" life in this sense. They are, however, actual life in the sense they are living cells.

If your question is about abortion, the zygote probably becomes a "person" when the brain develops and the nerve pathways are connected.