At What Point Does a Fetus Become a Human Being?

The definition of "human being" in the abortion debate is clearly related to "rights pertaining to human beings". This is therefore a political question, not a biological one. We need only refer to extremist movements such as Nazism to see the full implications of this but this does not detract from the political point, or from the association of the question with other issues ranging from "animal rights" to "thinking machines".

fresco- I understand what you are saying, given the myriad complexities of this issue. In this thread I am not concerned with abortion, or the legal issues surrounding the rights of a human being.

This was meant to be a rather limited range of discussion, of a very narrow portion of the entire issue. Each person has his own concept of what makes a being, "human". That is the issue that I wanted to discuss. Hmmmmm....................... maybe this belonged in philosophy!

I think you are missing the point here; the question should be "what is a human being, and what, if anything, makes it different from any other living entity?"

Homo sapiens is homosapiens from the point of the joining of the sperm, and egg; but 'human being' is a philosophical 'position', not a biological reality.

We are, once again 'counting angels dancing', not discussing real issues!

[the most critical problem on this planet is over population; we should be minimizing the misery caused by want, not wantonly defending the imposition of an indefensible obscene myopic creed on those who can least afford it!]

I don't think that I am missing the point. I just think that you stated my question more clearly!

Apparently you were thinking in terms of the entire living world. I was focused solely upon the product of a pregnancy of a human mother. But it is basically the same question.

Phoenix,

In the words of Wittgenstein "meaning is use". The implication of this is that whereas there may be a general set of central properties which are associated with the term "human being" at the boundaries the usage of the term is context specific and idiosyncratic. By asking someone to make a mark on a gestation time line you are essentially asking the same sort of question as "when does a bitten apple cease to be an apple ?" This only matters in context e.g. if apples had "rights" or you were using the apple for flavoring etc.

under state laws (colorado) a human being is defined as one who has been born ( a living birth).

This is true of a good many things. Wish I'd said it.


(Reading along for now Phoenix)

I think it is important to define "human being." It could mean different things to different people and that in itself can be a controversy. I looked up the meaning in the dictionary and got … "any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae." So in this definition some one dead is considered a human being. I don't think that is what you are trying to get at.

When I was personally pregnant, for me, the fetus felt like a human being when I heard the news - I was pregnant. But that is a personal feeling because of my happiness to have a child. It was a human being to me when I knew I was pregnant.

I am not even sure if the medical community has defined the start of human life. The medical definition of the start of pregnancy is not even the moment of conception; it is about 10 days later; the moment of implantation. An embryo is not even considered a fetus until 10 weeks, when the face looks human and the gender may be detectable.

I think the closest thing you can "medically" term human life is about 5 months when because the lungs may be developed to a point where the baby has a chance to live on its own. Most states outlaw abortions at this stage, except in unusual circumstances.

The odd thing is for those conservatives that believe conception is the beginning of life, they only believe this for those that are conceived naturally. In In-vitro fertilization circumstances, it is when the embryo is implanted.

There is one article in the Journal of Medical Ethics that tries to define a "human being." It suggests that medically the term a 'human being' should be defined by the presence of an active human brain. The brain is the only unique and irreplaceable organ in the human body, as the orchestrator of all organ systems and the seat of personality. Thus, the presence or absence of brain life truly defines the presence or absence of human life in the medical sense. When viewed in this way, human life may be seen as a continuous spectrum between the onset of brain life in utero (eight weeks gestation), until the occurrence of brain death. At any point human tissue or organ systems may be present, but without the presence of a functional human brain, these do not constitute a 'human being', at least in a medical sense.

Another thing at the opposite spectrum that is difficult to define is when does human life end? This is especially difficult considering the capability to keep people alive even when it appears there is no brain activity, they cannot eat, drink or breathe on their own. Can you or should you apply the same principles of defining human being to some one in this state as a fetus/embryo?

At about eighteen years of age . . . maybe . . .

When the egg is fertilized, everything that is necessary for humanity is there. The entire genetic code is in place and growth begins. At this point, the group of cells is "human". It is certainly not canine or feline or anything else. Growth doesn't end until we die. Picking one point upon the "growth line" at which the same group of cells with the same genetic information and the same pathway to existence becomes human is impossible. The cells begin human and continue to be so. I believe that applies to in vitro fertilizations as well. Legal definitions are useless because they really have little do do with reality and much to do with a lot of other paradigms. What is a human embryo if not human? A malignancy? A potentiality? If this issue were not wrapped up in political agendas, would there be such an impossible debate?

I think the question is when does the fetus begin to feel and know it's alive.

It's not when the sperm fertilizes the egg.

I believe there are studies that shows the fetus does not show any brain activity until about 13 weeks.