When Does Life Begin?

Cool avatar, baddog. I don't remember seeing it before.

What are your standards for truth in this discussion? Or is it to be simply a sharing of beliefs?

When does life begin for humans?

Physically at conception. Once those cells start dividing it is a living thing.

Spiritually at birth.

For those who think that life begins with conception, what about sperm and unfertilized eggs which contain equally unique human DNA and are just as much alive and capable of growing into a human being under the right conditions? What about all of the other cells in an unbroken chain of existence stretching back to the earliest hominids. In that sense life began for each of us millions of years ago.

A fertilized egg is not a human being any more than an acorn is an oak tree. It is nothing more than a set of instructions which are often flawed: 2/3 of eggs fail to implant and develop and another 15% end in spontaneous miscarriage, about half due to genetic defects. The egg can also split several days after conception and grow into multiple embryos.

So when do we decide that a new human life exists? When the fetal heart starts beating, when brain activity begins, when an infant takes its first breath, opens its eyes and interacts with other human beings, when it is named and formally accepted into the community? You could make a case for any of those.

IMO, life begins for humans when they become aware of their own existence. A human being is not present prior to 24 weeks of gestation (when the fetal brain has developed to the point that consciousness MIGHT be possible) and may not actually come to exist for several weeks after that. Life is a process, not a point.

baddog1 wrote:

When does life begin for humans?

Retirement

P

But for the rest of us, the second part has relevance:

Sturgis wrote:

Spiritually at birth.

Interesting that you draw a distinction. Based on what?

real life wrote:

But for the rest of us, the second part has relevance:

Sturgis wrote:

Spiritually at birth.

Interesting that you draw a distinction. Based on what?

I essentially base this on an inner sense. My belief is that up until the moment of birth there is merely a group of living cells which have grown and grown into a possibly viable creature. At the moment of birth a spirit or a soul enters the body and coming with that are certain attributes which will later be evident. To some degree this can be seen in 3 children raised in the same home who each have different personality from birth. How else can it truly be explained that one child will cry and be fussy from day one, another is always silent and the third is only occasionally set off by what is happening? (Extra points if you can figure out which of those 3 I was) Three children with the same parents and the same surroundings and each with a distinct personality. A personality is not seen in an image shown through ultrasound...yes a being is moving around and may react to sound; however, that can be attributed to nerve endings and the such...all living things react to stimuli, it does not indicate a spiritual existence. With that in mind I come to the conclusion that spiritual or inner soul life begins at birth, not a second before.

. . . all living things react to stimuli, it does not indicate a spiritual existence.

IMO, life begins for humans when they become aware of their own existence. A human being is not present prior to 24 weeks of gestation (when the fetal brain has developed to the point that consciousness MIGHT be possible) and may not actually come to exist for several weeks after that. Life is a process, not a point.

Terry wrote:

For those who think that life begins with conception, what about sperm and unfertilized eggs which contain equally unique human DNA and are just as much alive and capable of growing into a human being under the right conditions? What about all of the other cells in an unbroken chain of existence stretching back to the earliest hominids. In that sense life began for each of us millions of years ago.

A fertilized egg is not a human being any more than an acorn is an oak tree. It is nothing more than a set of instructions which are often flawed: 2/3 of eggs fail to implant and develop and another 15% end in spontaneous miscarriage, about half due to genetic defects. The egg can also split several days after conception and grow into multiple embryos.

So when do we decide that a new human life exists? When the fetal heart starts beating, when brain activity begins, when an infant takes its first breath, opens its eyes and interacts with other human beings, when it is named and formally accepted into the community? You could make a case for any of those.

IMO, life begins for humans when they become aware of their own existence. A human being is not present prior to 24 weeks of gestation (when the fetal brain has developed to the point that consciousness MIGHT be possible) and may not actually come to exist for several weeks after that. Life is a process, not a point.

Do you feel that an infant is aware of its own existence?

If 46 chromosomes is the standard then did I kill life when I got my hair cut last night? Certainly I denied cells with 46 chromosomes the chance to continue to live.

The legislatures have determined when life ends, baddog, but not when it begins. For me, it is when that first breath is taken.