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Does Life Begin at Conception?

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kapeluza
kapeluza Posts: 3,434 Member
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Do you think life begins at 14-15 weeks when the heart starts pumping, when a baby is born or at conception?

So what are you feelings on this controversial social issue?
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  • debloves2ride
    debloves2ride Posts: 386
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    I think the minute that little ovum is fertilized you have the beginning of life. It may not be life as in a complete person, but it is a group of living cells growing, maturing and processing. Everything that makes up a person is being developed. I personally think from the minute of conception you have a person.
  • I_give_it_2_u_str8
    I_give_it_2_u_str8 Posts: 680 Member
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    Whatever the most up-to-date scientific definition is lol
  • JustEllieK
    JustEllieK Posts: 423 Member
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    I think the minute that little ovum is fertilized you have the beginning of life. It may not be life as in a complete person, but it is a group of living cells growing, maturing and processing. Everything that makes up a person is being developed. I personally think from the minute of conception you have a person.

    Couldn't have said it any better!
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
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    Whatever the most up-to-date scientific definition is lol

    THIS!

    But mostly I believe that once it's viable (would possibly live if born), then it's a life. So I guess what... 25-27 weeks? Hmmm? Something around there.
  • california_peach
    california_peach Posts: 1,858 Member
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    Whatever the most up-to-date scientific definition is lol

    THIS!

    But mostly I believe that once it's viable (would possibly live if born), then it's a life. So I guess what... 25-27 weeks? Hmmm? Something around there.

    This is also how I feel.
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    I think the mechanism to create what most people consider a life happens the moment of conception. It is at that moment that all we think of as a human life begins to form. So to me, anything that stops that process from conception forward has stopped the "life" from taking place.
  • I_give_it_2_u_str8
    I_give_it_2_u_str8 Posts: 680 Member
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    I think the mechanism to create what most people consider a life happens the moment of conception. It is at that moment that all we think of as a human life begins to form. So to me, anything that stops that process from conception forward has stopped the "life" from taking place.

    So if I kick joe in the nuts preventing him from having joe jr, I have committed murder?

    The point being that just bc there was a potential for life to be created doesn't mean it did
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    I agree. Joe's nuts have the potential (although not so much after you kick them!) But the process itself hasn't started. So to me it's not the potential but the process that decides in my mind whether there is life or not. Eggs and sperm apart are just eggs and sperm. Together they kick of a chain reaction that leads to life.
  • juliecat1
    juliecat1 Posts: 3,455 Member
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    Life is defined as...
    the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body
    a principle or force that is considered to underlie the distinctive quality of animate beings
    an organismic state characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction
    the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual


    By that definition, I side with the "at the moment of conception" group. But, I am able to separate that when it comes to birth control and abortion up to the point of viability. After that point, I dont agree
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    I agree. The definition of life and the issues of birth control and abortion to me are two separate decisions, although typically intertwined.
  • I_give_it_2_u_str8
    I_give_it_2_u_str8 Posts: 680 Member
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    I agree. Joe's nuts have the potential (although not so much after you kick them!) But the process itself hasn't started. So to me it's not the potential but the process that decides in my mind whether there is life or not. Eggs and sperm apart are just eggs and sperm. Together they kick of a chain reaction that leads to life.

    I've never discussed this before, sorry if I sound like an amateur but when are you saying its 'life' - when the penis enters the vag or when the sperm hits the egg?
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    For me it's when there is fertilization....sperm hitting egg and getting through so that cell division kicks off. So through sex or artificial insemmination.
  • I_give_it_2_u_str8
    I_give_it_2_u_str8 Posts: 680 Member
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    For me it's when there is fertilization....sperm hitting egg and getting through so that cell division kicks off. So through sex or artificial insemmination.

    It sounds like you're describing the whole process. I was just wondering if you consider any single moment the start of life
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    The moment of fertilization. The moment the sperm enters a mature egg. At that moment no further sperm can enter and the genetics of the child, including its sex are defined. That is when life starts to me.
  • I_give_it_2_u_str8
    I_give_it_2_u_str8 Posts: 680 Member
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    - its possible for two different sperm to fertilize the same egg (superfecundation)
    - the sex isn't determined until later on in the process if my understanding is correct.

    So this makes your definition a bit shakey IMHO
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    Not a medical person but I thought that fertilization by two sperm is very rare and usually results in the embryo not going full term. Technically you are correct though. I was incorrect in saying by a single sperm whennothwr possibilities exist. As to the sex, I believe that if you get down to the chromosome level you can tell by the X and Y configuration the sex immediately after fertilization. True development of identifiable sex organs doesn't take place until later and they tend to resemble female genitalia in early stages.
  • I_give_it_2_u_str8
    I_give_it_2_u_str8 Posts: 680 Member
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    at some point it becomes a philosopical issue and less of a scientific one, since when we get down to the chromosome level it all kind of becomes obscure and unrelatable. its hard to say that a single cell can be classified as 'life' in any qualitative aspect.

    so i'll just leave it at that :)
  • mikajoanow
    mikajoanow Posts: 584 Member
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    at some point it becomes a philosopical issue and less of a scientific one, since when we get down to the chromosome level it all kind of becomes obscure and unrelatable. its hard to say that a single cell can be classified as 'life' in any qualitative aspect.

    so i'll just leave it at that :)
    I aree with this.
  • Steel6981
    Steel6981 Posts: 154 Member
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    I would agree. It is a personal belief for each as to when they believe life beings. As to relatable...for me I relate on an emotional level whenever I think that everything that became my daughter was made at that very early stage. However, good debates are not made of emotions. I've enjoyed this. Thanks for the discussion!
  • flea2449
    flea2449 Posts: 500 Member
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    at some point it becomes a philosopical issue and less of a scientific one, since when we get down to the chromosome level it all kind of becomes obscure and unrelatable. its hard to say that a single cell can be classified as 'life' in any qualitative aspect.

    so i'll just leave it at that :)
    I aree with this.

    AGREE!

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