Does Life Begin at Conception?

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Replies

  • Science aside, my own personal beliefs are that our souls choose our bodies before we are born and sort of plan out our life's purpose. Obviously that doesn't mean all of the events in our life, just the purpose of our lives.

    Do I believe life begins at conception?? Honestly I don't know. I think perhaps it takes time for our souls and our bodies to merge and become one. I do believe it happens before birth, but I don't believe it happens at conception. So I suppose the answer is no, in my opinion.
  • loved11
    loved11 Posts: 92 Member
    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.


    lmao lololol the same man who begs us to spank our teens. love it
  • loved11
    loved11 Posts: 92 Member
    i agree with bahet, but viability is now at 23-24 weeks, that was 5 years ago with my twins. The neonatal medicine and instruments are advancing by leaps and bounds.
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    how many 23/24 week premmies actually dont have serious issues and problems though. At what point do you say life at any cost, and when do you start looking at quality of life too?
  • VeganInTraining
    VeganInTraining Posts: 1,319 Member
    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.

    lol I agree completely....but hopefully a parasite that it's host wants
  • VeganInTraining
    VeganInTraining Posts: 1,319 Member
    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?

    I don't use birthcontrol for this reason. I am not opposed to other people using it, but, for me, anything that stops a baby that began to form (a fertelized egg) from coming to fruition is not something I will consider (for myself.) So, to answer the OPs question, I think life begins after fertalization
  • 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?

    I don't use birthcontrol for this reason. I am not opposed to other people using it, but, for me, anything that stops a baby that began to form (a fertelized egg) from coming to fruition is not something I will consider (for myself.) So, to answer the OPs question, I think life begins after fertalization

    I totally respect your opinion and I'm glad you made the decision that works for you. I have never had children and I plan on keeping it that way, so I have an IUD and my partner and I always use condoms. To me using this type of BC-- the IUD especially-- is better than the alternative. Obviously as I stated earlier I think life begins at whatever point the soul connects with an unborn child, but I don't think that happens at conception. But I'd rather use my multiple forms of BC like I do than to either raise I child I am not capable of raising (long explanation here, but in a nutshell I have mental disorders and don't think I could handle raising a child), or abort a child (I am pro-choice but don't think I could abort) that I already formed a bond with. Call it the lesser of two evils if you want.

    But as I said, I'm glad you made the right decision for you. My decision may be the opposite, but it is the right one for me. :)
  • VeganInTraining
    VeganInTraining Posts: 1,319 Member
    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?

    I don't use birthcontrol for this reason. I am not opposed to other people using it, but, for me, anything that stops a baby that began to form (a fertelized egg) from coming to fruition is not something I will consider (for myself.) So, to answer the OPs question, I think life begins after fertalization

    I totally respect your opinion and I'm glad you made the decision that works for you. I have never had children and I plan on keeping it that way, so I have an IUD and my partner and I always use condoms. To me using this type of BC-- the IUD especially-- is better than the alternative. Obviously as I stated earlier I think life begins at whatever point the soul connects with an unborn child, but I don't think that happens at conception. But I'd rather use my multiple forms of BC like I do than to either raise I child I am not capable of raising (long explanation here, but in a nutshell I have mental disorders and don't think I could handle raising a child), or abort a child (I am pro-choice but don't think I could abort) that I already formed a bond with. Call it the lesser of two evils if you want.

    But as I said, I'm glad you made the right decision for you. My decision may be the opposite, but it is the right one for me. :)

    I definitely agree that an IUD is better than "the alternative" and if you're taking the steps you need to make sure you're not in a comprimising situation I totally agree with that. My choice to not use chemical birth control is probably more because I really want kids than that I'm morally against it. I made the decision not to use chemical birth control after having a miscarriage, presumably as a result of birth control use. I had always known that it will make the womb a hostile environment should an egg get fertilized but I didn't realize how much that would bother me even though I wasn't prepared for children at that point....I suppose that is a totally different debate though ;)
  • Izable2011
    Izable2011 Posts: 755 Member
    When the little swimmer decides to fertilize the egg it's life or aka baby. :happy:
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    At the moment of conception.
  • futiledevices
    futiledevices Posts: 309 Member
    It may be alive, but it's certainly not human.
  • summalovaable
    summalovaable Posts: 287 Member
    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.

    IMHO best response! There are too many technicalities when you define conception as the "moment of fertilization". And really its not very accurate, you may have a potential for a child forming but it is far from a child yet. And really, I'm not going to feel too awful about killing some premature chromosomes if I take the time to go tanning and slowly kill my chromosomes that way. If that's the definition of a child, is it considered suicide for me to go tanning? My poor DNA can only handle some many point mutations after all.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    It has the potential to grow into a child, but I don't believe it gets "personhood" until it's born, to be honest.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    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.

    no it isn't. A parasite is a different species that feeds off its host. The developing pregnancy is the same species as its mother and father, so it doesn't meet the definition for parasite.
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    It has the potential to grow into a child, but I don't believe it gets "personhood" until it's born, to be honest.

    Are you pro-choice? If so, because you don't think a fetus reaches personhood until it's born, are you okay with third trimester abortions? Not being snarky; sincerely wondering your opinion.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    once there is a heartbeat it's a living thing to me

    Agreed here.

    I also don't agree that anyone should be able to abort a baby once it has a heartbeat...which is week 4 or 5 of pregnancy. Basically, by the time you find out, your child has a heartbeat. This is why I am pro-life.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    It has the potential to grow into a child, but I don't believe it gets "personhood" until it's born, to be honest.

    Are you pro-choice? If so, because you don't think a fetus reaches personhood until it's born, are you okay with third trimester abortions? Not being snarky; sincerely wondering your opinion.

    I am pro-choice, and while this opinion is not popular, I am okay with third trimester abortions.
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    I am pro-choice, and while this opinion is not popular, I am okay with third trimester abortions.

    Have you seen what a third trimester "non person" looks like?
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    i would assume the issue isnt about looks
  • Bahet
    Bahet Posts: 1,254 Member
    I am pro-choice, and while this opinion is not popular, I am okay with third trimester abortions.

    Have you seen what a third trimester "non person" looks like?
    Have you seen what a 10 week old embryo looks like? That doesn't change your mind does it?

    I'm only in favor of 3rd trimester abortions in extreme circumstances such as serious medical issues for the mother or fetus.
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    which i believe is the only time theyre ever allowed anyway
  • mikajoanow
    mikajoanow Posts: 584 Member
    which i believe is the only time theyre ever allowed anyway
    Depends on the state. My state has no restrictions.
  • mikajoanow
    mikajoanow Posts: 584 Member
    It has the potential to grow into a child, but I don't believe it gets "personhood" until it's born, to be honest.

    Me too. People need to do what is right for their own lives and I do not think I am qualified to run someone elses life and tell them what they can or can not do with their bodies in regards to bringing children into the world. I also don't think that the majority of women who choose abortion in the third trimester do so on a whim, I think there are very serious reasons in most cases.

    Another unpopular opinion I have... I personally do not find adoption a good alternative. I personally don't think its a great idea to carry a pregnancy to term just so they can give it to some unknown person, who may or may not be a complete *kitten*. I have known (at least) two people who were adopted and sexually abused by their adoptive families. Not that I think all adoptive families are like this (many biological families are like this as well) but I would not bring a person into the world just to hand it over to someone else. If other people choose that, great for them but its not for me. Besides the fact that there are already so many children who already exist in this world who need loving caring families, most of whom are overlooked for a variety of reasons.
  • suzycreamcheese
    suzycreamcheese Posts: 1,766 Member
    which i believe is the only time theyre ever allowed anyway
    Depends on the state. My state has no restrictions.

    oh wow, i dont like that very much, even with being pro choice. Still cant imagine its very common though
  • mikajoanow
    mikajoanow Posts: 584 Member
    which i believe is the only time theyre ever allowed anyway
    Depends on the state. My state has no restrictions.

    oh wow, i dont like that very much, even with being pro choice. Still cant imagine its very common though
    1.5% of all abortions happen after 21 weeks in the United States.
    I don't think very many people go into a late term abortion lightly.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    Have you seen what a third trimester "non person" looks like?

    Not at all about looks at all. I simply believe that the rights of the mother, who is an actual, living person, trump the rights of the third trimester "non person".
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    Have you seen what a 10 week old embryo looks like? That doesn't change your mind does it?

    Of course I have. And of course it doesn't change my mind. I'm curious if the way a fetus looks to someone who is pro-choice makes a difference. Maybe I missed your point.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
    Of course I have. And of course it doesn't change my mind. I'm curious if the way a fetus looks to someone who is pro-choice makes a difference. Maybe I missed your point.

    I think the point that Bahet was trying to make was that just as the 10-week embryo doesn't change the mind of someone who is pro-life, the appearance of the fetus doesn't really have much of an effect on the mindset of someone who is pro-choice. I know what they look like, and it doesn't change my opinion.
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    I think the point that Bahet was trying to make was that just as the 10-week embryo doesn't change the mind of someone who is pro-life, the appearance of the fetus doesn't really have much of an effect on the mindset of someone who is pro-choice. I know what they look like, and it doesn't change my opinion.
    I find that surprising. Thanks for answering what I was wondering.
  • Bahet
    Bahet Posts: 1,254 Member
    Of course I have. And of course it doesn't change my mind. I'm curious if the way a fetus looks to someone who is pro-choice makes a difference. Maybe I missed your point.

    I think the point that Bahet was trying to make was that just as the 10-week embryo doesn't change the mind of someone who is pro-life, the appearance of the fetus doesn't really have much of an effect on the mindset of someone who is pro-choice. I know what they look like, and it doesn't change my opinion.

    ^^ Yea, that. :smile:
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