Melanin
Kage in the Making 👑
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Science says that a fetus is a person from the moment of conception.
The "genetic definition" of personhood, as developed by the evangelical Francis Schaeffer and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, holds that science proves personhood at the moment of conception. Their argument follows that since the whole genet ic code is established when the ovum and sperm is united, and each code is unique, a unique person is therefore created at the moment of conception.
This logic is flawed, however, because although there is a continuum from conception to death, there is a difference between an actual person and a potential or possible person. A fertilized ovum, or zygote, is a cluster of cells; taking this genetic code argument to its extreme, each of those cells is encoded with a specific DNA. If each of these cells is then to be considered a possible human being, then any time any cell is removed, through surgery for instance, a potential life is destroyed.
Doctors have confirmed that a fetus can feel pain.
Although this theory has received much attention through the showing of Dr. Bernard Nathanson's video The Silent Scream, experts in the medical field have repeatedly and vehemently established that this is impossible. The perception of pain is a complex biological and psychological phenomena that involves certain states of "consciousness" that would be impossible to achieve at the time of conception.
The brain itself is composed of approximately 100 billion brain cells called neurons. These brain neurons do not even exist prior to four weeks in utero, and the peak period for this brain neuron development is between two to five months in utero. There are also about 100 trillion connections between these neurons, called synaptic connections, by which neurons pass information amongst themselves. A minimum number of neurons must be developed in the cerebral cortex, and the interconnectivity of these neurons is absolutely essential, before states such as sensation, perception, and thought are really meaningful. While these synapses start to form at about the third month, the minimum number do not usually develop until about 31 weeks, and most are not formed until after birth.
The Bible says a fetus is a person from the moment of conception.
Two passages are most often quoted to explain the theory of life from conception. The first is Psalm 139:13-15: "For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb... My frame was not hidden from thee when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth." If this verse is to be taken literally, then the Psalmist came from the ground, not his mother's womb.
The second is Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations." This verse simply refers to the concept of God's foreknowledge, and his divine plan for certain individuals, in this case, the prophet Jeremiah. However, Genesis 2:7 states that "The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." According to this verse, a fetus is not a person — a living soul — until after birth, when it take s its first breath.
Additionally, conservative Christians speak about becoming a "new spiritual person" by being "born again," quoting John 3:7, "You must be born again." So, if spiritual life is described as a new "birth," then it follows that physical life, or personhood, comes from "birth," not conception. Otherwise the Bible would say, "You must be conceived again."
Finally, the Bible never explicitly mentions abortion.
Do you think it's murder?
The "genetic definition" of personhood, as developed by the evangelical Francis Schaeffer and former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, holds that science proves personhood at the moment of conception. Their argument follows that since the whole genet ic code is established when the ovum and sperm is united, and each code is unique, a unique person is therefore created at the moment of conception.
This logic is flawed, however, because although there is a continuum from conception to death, there is a difference between an actual person and a potential or possible person. A fertilized ovum, or zygote, is a cluster of cells; taking this genetic code argument to its extreme, each of those cells is encoded with a specific DNA. If each of these cells is then to be considered a possible human being, then any time any cell is removed, through surgery for instance, a potential life is destroyed.
Doctors have confirmed that a fetus can feel pain.
Although this theory has received much attention through the showing of Dr. Bernard Nathanson's video The Silent Scream, experts in the medical field have repeatedly and vehemently established that this is impossible. The perception of pain is a complex biological and psychological phenomena that involves certain states of "consciousness" that would be impossible to achieve at the time of conception.
The brain itself is composed of approximately 100 billion brain cells called neurons. These brain neurons do not even exist prior to four weeks in utero, and the peak period for this brain neuron development is between two to five months in utero. There are also about 100 trillion connections between these neurons, called synaptic connections, by which neurons pass information amongst themselves. A minimum number of neurons must be developed in the cerebral cortex, and the interconnectivity of these neurons is absolutely essential, before states such as sensation, perception, and thought are really meaningful. While these synapses start to form at about the third month, the minimum number do not usually develop until about 31 weeks, and most are not formed until after birth.
The Bible says a fetus is a person from the moment of conception.
Two passages are most often quoted to explain the theory of life from conception. The first is Psalm 139:13-15: "For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb... My frame was not hidden from thee when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth." If this verse is to be taken literally, then the Psalmist came from the ground, not his mother's womb.
The second is Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations." This verse simply refers to the concept of God's foreknowledge, and his divine plan for certain individuals, in this case, the prophet Jeremiah. However, Genesis 2:7 states that "The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." According to this verse, a fetus is not a person — a living soul — until after birth, when it take s its first breath.
Additionally, conservative Christians speak about becoming a "new spiritual person" by being "born again," quoting John 3:7, "You must be born again." So, if spiritual life is described as a new "birth," then it follows that physical life, or personhood, comes from "birth," not conception. Otherwise the Bible would say, "You must be conceived again."
Finally, the Bible never explicitly mentions abortion.
Do you think it's murder?
