Some in the pro-choice community will give uninformed or flippant answers to the question: When does life begin?
"Oh, nobody can agree on that."
"Nobody really knows."
"How can that tiny speck be a human?"
"Answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade." (Barack Obama)
The answer among embryologists is that life begins at conception:
Dr. Ronan O'Rahilly and Dr. Fabiola Muller, Human Embryology and Teratology,2nd ed., p.8, (1996): "Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed."
Keith Moore and T.V.N. Persaud, in The Developing Human, p.16, (2003): "Human development begins at fertilization when a male gamete or sperm unites with a female gamete to produce a single cell - zygote."
Dr. M. Krieger, The Human Reproductive System, p.88, (1969): All organisms, however large and complex they may be when fullgrown, begin life as but a single cell. This is true of the human being, for instance, who begins life as a fertilized ovum."
William Larson, Human Embryology, 3rd ed., p.1, (2001) Male and female sex cells "unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual."
Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen, Embryo - A Defense of Human Life, p. 53 (2008): "The combining of the chromosomes of the sperm and the oocyte generates what every authority in human embryology identifies as a new, distinct, and enduring organism ... the direction of its growth is not extrinsically determined, but is in accord with the genetic information within it. The human embryo is then, a whole, though immature, and distinct human organism - a human being."
When a pro-choicer is confronted with this information and still disagrees that it is a human, they should be asked: "If it is not a human, then what is it?" "If it is not a life, at what point does it become a life?"
It's amazing that many people who are pro-choice, question the overall scientific evidence for the geneses of life, but agree blindly, for example, with some scientists concerning the controversial subjects of global warming or evolution. In comparison, there is nowhere near the consensus of scientists for the existence of either, but they have no problem quoting the "scientific" results backing the claims for proof of both.
Hello All,
This was Martin Luther King's Dream, "That one day this country would live up to it's creed. That all men are "created" equal with inalienable human rights (Life, Liberty, & Pursuit of Happiness)". This is from our "Declaration of independence" which also stated that these truths were self-evident. Obama say's "It's above his Pay Grade" to know when life begins, it wasn't above the founding father's. They new that life started at "Creation" and not at birth.
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War Reconstruction Amendments, first intended to secure the rights of former slaves. It guarantees the due process and equal protection of each state's laws.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law ; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
If Obama's views are that bad that he would take life and use the Constitution to defend himself how can he trusted to make any other decision!
Also remember the Declaration of Independence also states "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it". It is time for all men to stand up for LIFE!
"The Doctrine of Original Intent"
As Always Thanks for being involved, Many Blessings, Shane
"Standing Strong" & "Closing Ranks"
and still in the "Hunt For Red November"
You just don't get it. It's not about life. It was never about life. Its...
... Oh, what's the point in trying?
I will never forget Obama declaring it's above his paygrade during the televised, Rick Warren forum. I believe presidency is above his paygrade. It does bother me that Christians and Catholics are clueless on who to vote for. God is pro life... so why vote for a pro choice candidate? Why would you do that? Don't let yourself be deceived, this man is a wolf in sheep's clothes. Life starts at conception, not when the child enters the 3rd grade.
Oh, fine. Here goes.
First, lets get over this obcession with life. I have no doubt the embryo is alive. So is a bacterium. It takes more than just life to consider something special, so the whole issue of 'when life begins' is a giant red herring. It's a distraction from the real concern here, which isn't when life begins but what the criteria should be for something to deserve some level of rights.
You could define those criteria in such a way that they are met at conception, if you wish - but it still wouldn't be about when life begins. The issue of abortion should be debated as a matter of rights, not about trying to turn life into something magical.
If there were really a right to life, antibiotics would be illegal. So stop distracting people by talking about 'when life begins' all the time. It's just confusing.