Intro
Science has always been quite clear on the fact that human life begins at conception.
It is only when you muddy the water with politics that you see bizarre claims that human development begins at implantation, or in the second trimester, or at birth, or at any other arbitrary point people have made up to support their agenda.
So to make things plain, in this post we will look at the issue from a strictly biological point of view.
Biological Description
- A woman ovulates once a month
- During ovulation, the ovaries release one egg (or more)
- The egg leaves the ovary and begins it's journey down the fallopian tube to the uterus
- The egg only lasts for 12-24 hours (after ovulation) before dying
- On the other side of this equation you have the sperm
- Sperm are released from the penis into the vagina during ejaculation
- From there, sperm must travel through the uterus into the fallopian tube
- This journey can be accomplished in as little as 5 hours, but can take up to 5 days
- Conception occurs upon the sperm reaching the egg and penetrating the outer lining of the egg
- At the moment the sperm enters the egg, the two cells become one new cell called a zygote
- This entry sets off a chemical reaction that pushes away all other sperm
- In the zygote the 23 individual chromosomes from the sperm match with the 23 individual chromosomes from the egg to become a full genome, genetically complete, genetically unique, fully human
- The zygote begins dividing into new cells immediately
- The collection of cells, that the zygote divides into, is called a blastocyst
- The blastocyst takes about 4 days to travel down the fallopian tube to the uterus
- Upon reaching the uterus, the blastocyst will typically float for about 2 days before implanting in the uterine wall
- It is at this implantation (6 days after fertilization) that pregnancy (as it is currently defined) begins for the mother
- At 22 days the baby has a heart beat
- At 6 weeks the baby's brain waves can be detected
- At 8 weeks the baby has arms, legs, hands, and feet
- At 12 weeks the baby has a sex
- At 13 weeks the baby's taste buds are working
- At 14 weeks the baby has all organs it will have
- At 20 weeks the baby can feel pain
- At 21 weeks the baby can now viably live outside the womb
- At 23 weeks babies have demonstrated REM indicating dreams
- At 40 weeks the mother gives birth to the baby
Conclusion
At the point of conception, the sperm and the egg combine to create new life. That resulting new cell is both:
- genetically complete - representing a full human being
- genetically unique - different from any person who has ever or will ever exist
Upon creation, that cell is immediately dividing, growing, and multiplying. Is that cell growing into an animal, a plant, or "just flesh"? Of course not. It is ridiculous to say that baby will grow into anything but the human being it is designed to be.
So we now have the law, the Church, and science all agreeing that abortion ends a human life. Raise these facts!
Do not allow people to get away with calling the precious gift of new human life that is an unborn baby anything else. It is not "the flesh". It is not "just a fetus". It is a baby. It is a human being. It is a precious gift. It has been so since conception. It deserves to be protected. And it deserves to be loved.
Keep Pursuing
Additional Materials
EHD has live footage of a developing child from conception to birth:
http://www.ehd.org
Here is a beautiful blog post discussing how science states life begins at conception:
http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2013/01/science-v-religion-on-when-life-begins.html
This post is part of a mini-series on when life begins.
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