Debate: At what point does "Human" life begin?

!

THIS IS A DEBATE PAGE, NOT AN ARTICLE. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Conservapedia. Your opinion is welcome! Please remember to sign your comments on this page, and refrain from editing other user's contributions. New Users: Please read our "Editing etiquette" before posting

Background

One of the fundamental issues in the pro-life/pro-choice controversy is determining when human life begins, particularly in terms of being regarded as fully "human" in the eyes of the law. The catalyst for this page was the legislative initiative in North Dakota to define human life from the earliest possible stage. The bill declares that "any organism with the genome of homo sapiens" is a person protected by rights granted by the North Dakota Constitution and state laws. This interpretation would not only define unborn, developing fetuses in the womb as fully human, but also carry the label and legal protections of being fully human to fertilized human eggs or frozen embryos that have yet to be implanted in a mother's womb.

Others feel that life as a human begins once a baby is independent of the womb and can survive in that mode, even if significant medical assistance is required. In this context, a developing fetus still in the womb in the 7th month is not a human being, but if prematurely born at that time it becomes one because it is now independent of the mother's body.

Neither definition is satisfactory to people who stand fully behind being either pro-life or pro-choice, and each side has compelling reasons to support those positions. The purpose of this debate page is to allow those ideas and expressions to be given a fair and open airings, which will hopefully provide guidance to people who are unsure if the truth is one side, the other, or somewhere in the middle.

Please note that the section labels below do not represent the only options - they are placeholders to organize responses, so new sections can be added as appropriate.

Human Life begins with a fertilized egg

Well, yeah. Check any medical text.

Human Life begins with childbirth

I believe beyond any doubt that human life begins at birth. It is a well know fact that childbirth is a miracle of human life. Thus, the vagina is obviously endowed with miraculous humanizing powers. That should be sufficient proof that the humanity of a person is established as the "clump of cells" descends through the birth canal and comes out a "child". This is called the “Magic Vagina Hypothesis”. (Unless birth is by a C-section…those people have no soul.)

Human Life begins at a certain stage of neonatal development

It is my belief that life begins at the point where the brain has developed sufficiently for the fetus to be "self aware". Essentially when the brain is formed to the point that non automatic (or regulatory) brain activity (such as non auto response to stimulus) can be registered. Prior to this I consider the fetus a cell cluster, in the same way that I consider my heart a muscle.

On a side note, I wish there was more activity in the debate boards, or am I just missing it? I do love debate, and I realize that talk pages are usually not appropriate for such things, which is why I wish there was more going on around these parts. I'm not sure if this particular subject is especially debatable, since much of it hinges on personal belief rather than empirical fact with verifiable veracity.

Also, a question. Should any syops happen to wander around this way, I was wondering. Where do debate posts fall within the 90/10 rule. As I said before I love debate, but I would not want to violate any rules. I hope that partaking in ongoing debate counts as worthwhile contribution.--NicholasT 09:58, 13 April 2009 (EDT)

So human life begins at some random time during pregnancy. Really! So what brand of pixy dust causes this miracle transformation? Perhaps it is in the water mom drinks. Perhaps it the angels that come and ensoul the little guy just before he is sufficiently smart to realize it. Yeah, that must be it.

By the way, what happens to your "humanness" when you loose your high status of being "self aware"? Like during surgery, in the event of a brain injury, or in senility. Perhaps we should just off you in your sleep since you have then lost your magic version of humanity.

Human Life begins earlier than that

Human life began 6,000-250,000 or so years ago. The gametes in the sex organs are small parts of humans and are just as human as when they have fertilised an egg and grown into an adult, albeit less developed. In the same way that an unattached exhaust pipe is still part of a car, and a new car can be built around it, all cells of a human are in themselves human.