What always seemed so ridiculous is that a fetus only becomes a human being once it passes through a certain opening. That's just well... stupid (well I'm always open for someone to pose an argument). In your opinion, when does the embryo develop enough to be considered a human life with rights?
2007-09-01 13:30:36 · 22 answers · asked by ragdefender 6 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
I agree with you that it is ridiculous to say that at some point in time the fetus suddenly "becomes" human.
That's why it is illogical to set an arbitrary milestone like when the heart begins to beat. Are these people saying that one minute there is a mass of tissue and then the next minute suddenly it transforms into a human just because one of the organs starts fully functioning? Why the heart? What about the brain? The eyes? The ears? You see how foolish the argument becomes.
An embryo whose heart is not beating yet is not "half human" or "a potential human." The idea is absurd! You either are, or you aren't! It is simply a tiny human whose heart is not fully mature yet.
Life must begin at conception. There is no other answer. We can track fetal development from the earliest moments and it is clear that from the time the sperm and egg join, life is present.
Either the zygote/embryo/fetus is a human in all it's stages, or it's not. It has to be one or the other. Everything needed to form a newborn baby is present at the moment of conception. Anything that happens after conception is merely growth and development, which is what you and I still experience as adults.
The embryo is human from conception, and it is alive. And consequently, it must be afforded basic human rights from conception.
2007-09-01 14:37:51 · answer #1 · answered by Veritas 7 · 7⤊ 2⤋
I believe it's a human being from the get-go. My argument is simple: A human embryo has no hope of developing into anything other than a human being. There's absolutely no possibility of it ever becoming a, fish, dog, cow, frog, or anything else. From the moment that the sperm penetrates the egg, it is destined to be a human being, a person. This being the inevitable outcome, it is always a human being .
Meg: Your very argument establishes life beginning at conception. I realize you say you're "fuzzy" but please review your words and be honest with yourself, they way you have been with us. That's quite an argument you make for life!
SpiritRoaming: Ditto!!! Veritas is always on the mark.
PeguinBackPacker: If you believe that every life counts, how can you believe that abortion is an option? Seriously. Your opinion contradicts itself. On the one hand, you believe many people are inhumane. On the other, you believe that a sickly or impoverished child is an inconvenience and should not be allowed to live the life that it never asked for but was given anyway. Going back to those you deem inhumane; who are these people exactly? Are these the same people that created life and then decided that it was an inconvenience so they destroy it?
2007-09-01 18:56:13 · answer #2 · answered by CUrias 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Depends on what concept you want to follow.
Jewish - when the fetus has a soul. Around 5-6 months.
Legal - when born
Many folks - when the fetus can generally be able to survive on its own. Some say with technology (about 26 weeks) others, without (34 weeks).
Christian - at conception.
I don't think that the fetus should have any legal rights until birth (this is different from when I think it becomes a human being). However, I do support legislation that would also convict someone who deliberately kills the mother-to-be because she is pregnant and that the fetus was already viable. Thus, Scott Peterson case would still stand, but some drunk who hits and kills a pregnant woman would only be charged in the woman's death and not her pregnancy.
2007-09-01 14:51:21 · answer #3 · answered by CarbonDated 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
It is a human being at conception.
Your question, "when does the embryo develop enough to be considered a human life with rights?" was dead on. If not at conception, when?
2007-09-02 05:33:45 · answer #4 · answered by Danny H 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I find it quite likely that in the near future, they will create a device which can simulate a womb in which a fetus can live throughout the whole process. Then, if a woman doesn't want the fetus, it can grow to completion without her, and men will have a say in whether they get their child or not.
2016-05-19 00:13:18 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Legally (in most states, from what I have seen/heard), a fetus is not a legal human being until they have taken a breath outside the womb. Hence the reason when a pregnant woman is killed, the killer is only charged with one count of murder and not two.
My opinion is fuzzy on the subject. I used to believe life began at conception, then there was a time when I thought it began at implantation, now I'm more leaning to the idea that life begins when the fetus' heart begins to beat.
I honestly don't believe we as a society will ever come to a clear consensus of when human life begins, because who can say what human life is?
Breathing independently? A heart beat? Then what about those on life support?
Cognitive thought? Then what about those who are brain dead?
Being able to survive without your mother? Some of us don't move out of our mother's house until we're well into our twenties! Even thirties!
It's a difficult subject to discuss and debate and always will be until science can pinpoint the exact moment in our development that we truly become "Human."
2007-09-01 13:53:35 · answer #6 · answered by Meg 4 · 2⤊ 3⤋
In my opinion a person is not human until they can prove themselves worthy of such a title. So many people these days are inhumane.
My opinion on abortion is not a matter of when life begins, but will the child be in a beneficial situation when born? If born into a family where the mother can barely support herself, much less a family, what good would it be for the child to be allowed to have such a harsh existence? If the child is going to be born in very poor health, keeping it will delay the inevitable. I more concerned about how the child affects the people involved as a whole, not just the child itself. Those affected are considered to have lives too, and I believe every life counts.
2007-09-01 17:17:04 · answer #7 · answered by PeguinBackPacker 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
My perspective is as soon as conception when it has a life it's a human in the making..being formed...but still already a human
2007-09-02 11:13:31 · answer #8 · answered by Lorelei's Mommy ( & prego) 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless the human sperm and ova can come together and make a dog or a monkey or something other than human, it is a human at the moment of conception.
2007-09-01 15:31:02 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
The embryo is developed enough to be considered human when it can survive outside the womb even if it's with medical intervention.
That's why it's a good thing that people who kill pregnant women in their 3rd trimester are charged with two counts of murder.
2007-09-01 13:45:58 · answer #10 · answered by Melius 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋