Christian Pro-lifers: Can you explain this to me?

Question

Life begins at conception - implies a soul is created right then - right?

But what happens to the soul if the fetus naturally miscarries? (some ~30% of pregnancies)

Often the fetus divides into twins. Is a new soul created right at that moment - just like at conception?

Sometimes (~3% of twins) the twins reintegrate back into one fetus - what happens to the extra soul?


Reasonable answers appreciated. I would post this in R&S but that place is even more of a zoo than Politics is.

Answer 1

Wow, this is fascinating. The best answer (in fact, essentially the ONLY answer) came from a pro-choicer.

How often do pro-lifers pose questions along the lines of "how can pro-choicers advocate killing babies but be against the death penalty/Iraq War/etc.?" Then you ask them a logical question about how a fetus can be equivalent to a baby with a soul, and they have not a single answer. In fact only a couple of pro-lifers even responded, and it was mostly just foaming at the mouth calling the Questioner a baby killer.

Excellent question, and a very revealing lack of answers.

Answer 2

Life begins at birth. Catholics used to believe it was quickening when a soul entered the body. I don't believe anyone knows for sure except God. And he isn't here!

As a Rabbi put it

"The womb is a haven where the soul enjoys the warmth and protection of its mother, the support and love of its father, without being tainted or corrupted by the world outside. At this stage, the soul does not yet enter the body, but rather hovers around it. It is still free from the limitations of the physical. This is an intermediate step, in order to soften the shock of arriving in the world beyond the womb.

But some souls are never ready to leave. They are too sublime, too pure, too sensitive to be thrust into the harsh realities of worldly existence. It would be simply too cruel to plunge such a gentle soul into a body, to enter a world polluted by evil and selfishness. So instead of descending further, these souls float back to where they came from - the higher and holier realms where they feel at home. Perhaps they will come down some other time. Or perhaps their mission is fulfilled, having come down far enough.

For the mother, this is a painful loss. The future she anticipated for her child did not eventuate. But is it a miscarriage? Miscarriage implies that something went wrong, that a mistake happened; but we cannot know if perhaps this was the destiny of that soul. "

And he doesn't know for sure either!

Answer 3

I am a moderate conservative, and I am pro-choice, but I will try and give some answer to this, without speaking for others. In the case of a miscarriage, it is just like when a person dies naturally of a heart attack, or whatever. They're dead.
A fetus does not divide into twins. A zygote does, or 2 zygotes are implanted. So they would answer yes.
In the next case, one embryo is killed, it doesn't survive, so same situation.
Most conservatives are more understanding of rape situations and/or harm to the mother reasons for abortions. Most, as I do (although I am largely pro-choice), discourage abortion as a birth control measure just because people are irresponsible.

Answer 4

I am a non-christian pro-lifer, who does not believe in any afterlife, which makes it easier for me to answer this very interesting question.

Since this life is all there is, there is no eternal soul that goes on after death or that exists before conception. I still believe that life begins at conception, and that abortion is murder.

Answer 5

There in lies the problem of abortion. We don't really know. If there was something like a turkey thermometer that let us know when the soul popped in we wouldn't have the debate. Say you work in a lost and found. And the local policy is anything left behind for more then nine months is up for grabs. You don't know when or if the the people will claim their property. Is it alright to take something before that nine months is up?

Good point about R&S thats why I lurk in politics. Im prety sure Im indepent and I dont think I technically qualify as a christian.

Answer 6

Hmmm, and i thought life was eternal, and once you shed this earthly body made of dust, you continue life beyond the earth.
Guess if abortion destroys a life, than that is inaccurate.

i also was told that we are all born sinners, if we aren't born, then that soul would go straight to heaven wouldn't it? well considering that life is eternal, and abortion doesn't destroy life but then again if it does destroy life, someone is lying to me.

if abortion does in fact destroy a life, then that would mean life is either not eternal, or that God isn't the only one that can destroy the soul, conflicting with the bible.

I say, if you think an abortion is wrong, don't place yourself in a situation to have one. Other than that we govern based on functionality, not faith, let God sort out the technicalities.

Answer 7

Personally I think a soul is received with your first breath. Just like when you die and your soul leaves with your last breath. I am pro-life and am not suggesting abortions are a way to go. But why is it OK to kill thousands of innocent people in Iraq and then say stem cell research is bad.I think we need to listen to our hearts and do what is right in ever instance.

Answer 8

I am not a Christian, or a pro-lifer, but I can tell you what I believe. Life does not begin at conception. Life is eternal, so there is never a beginning or an ending to life. Souls are what we are and what life is, so souls are also eternal. Many people think that souls are something we have, and bodies are something we are....but they have it backward. Souls are what we are, and our bodies are merely something we have. Only the physical body can die, but that is not death at all, because death does not truly exist, since souls are eternal, and we are not our bodies! Sorry that I am being repetitive, but I am just trying to emphasize my point! *sm*

Answer 9

In my opinion, life begins when the fetus is able to sustain itself without any assistance from it's mother. NOT feed itself, dress itself, or move about on it's own but live and breathe without it's mother's help! There goes their case! Better come up with a new one!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

Justice Scalia of the Supreme Court said we don't have to deal in absolutes anymore. That's what someone posted earlier and if it was posted in YA politics it MUST be true.