Does Life Begin at Conception?

kapeluza

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?

debloves2ride

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

Whatever the most up-to-date scientific definition is lol

JustEllieK

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

- 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

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

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

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

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

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!

SkateboardFi

once there is a heartbeat it's a living thing to me

SiltyPigeon

Just to throw a wrench in the debate:::

Many types of birth control not only attempt to prevent eggs from being fertilized, but have a fail-safe in that they thicken the cervical mucus making the uterus inhospitable to the egg if it does happen to become fertilized. The fertilized egg is prevented from implanting and gets flushed out of the body (and probably down your toilet). Birth controls that do this? The Pill, the Nuva Ring, and the Cervical Implant.

So! If "life" starts when egg meets sperm, does that make the use of these three most common types of birth control a form of murder?

solpwr

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

Haha single cell creatures would argue with you, if they could.

baisleac

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 agree with everything except the last sentence. From the moment of conception you have a parasite. That parasite may result in a wanted child, but while it is feeding off of its host, it is a parasite.

BrettPGH

I agree with everything except the last sentence. From the moment of conception you have a parasite. That parasite may result in a wanted child, but while it is feeding off of its host, it is a parasite.

Actually they have found that this specific parasite feeds off the host well through it's teen years and beyond in many cases.

Bahet

In the most literal sense of the word it is a life at the moment of conception. Of course, a virus and an amoeba are also alive. IMO it doesn't attain person-hood and all that goes along with that until it is viable. It is a potential person just as an acorn is a potential oak tree but crushing an acorn is not the same as chopping down a tree. Whether or not it's a life is a completely different topic than the moral and legal aspects of birth control and abortion. Otherwise, if it is a full person with all the rights there-of from the moment of conception that makes every woman who ever took the pill guilty of first degree murder.

poisongirl6485

In the most literal sense of the word it is a life at the moment of conception. Of course, a virus and an amoeba are also alive. IMO it doesn't attain person-hood and all that goes along with that until it is viable. It is a potential person just as an acorn is a potential oak tree but crushing an acorn is not the same as chopping down a tree. Whether or not it's a life is a completely different topic than the moral and legal aspects of birth control and abortion. Otherwise, if it is a full person with all the rights there-of from the moment of conception that makes every woman who ever took the pill guilty of first degree murder.

^^^ That.

poisongirl6485

- 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

Sex is determined right away at fertilization, but it's only later on when the physical characteristics develop.

suzycreamcheese

In the most literal sense of the word it is a life at the moment of conception. Of course, a virus and an amoeba are also alive. IMO it doesn't attain person-hood and all that goes along with that until it is viable. It is a potential person just as an acorn is a potential oak tree but crushing an acorn is not the same as chopping down a tree. Whether or not it's a life is a completely different topic than the moral and legal aspects of birth control and abortion. Otherwise, if it is a full person with all the rights there-of from the moment of conception that makes every woman who ever took the pill guilty of first degree murder.

exactly

VeganGal84

In the most literal sense of the word it is a life at the moment of conception. Of course, a virus and an amoeba are also alive. IMO it doesn't attain person-hood and all that goes along with that until it is viable. It is a potential person just as an acorn is a potential oak tree but crushing an acorn is not the same as chopping down a tree. Whether or not it's a life is a completely different topic than the moral and legal aspects of birth control and abortion. Otherwise, if it is a full person with all the rights there-of from the moment of conception that makes every woman who ever took the pill guilty of first degree murder.

Oooh, I love the way you put this!