akuma587 said:
Development =/ Life. The egg and the sperm were already alive. I can put my cheek cells in a petri dish and culture them, but that doesn't mean they will ever turn into an organism or anything meaningful. There is no magical transformation from life to non-life, as both of the components of a fertilized egg were alive beforehand. Thus being "alive" by a human standards would have to be something different. These are the most plausible theories: 1) When brainwave activity begins (around end of 1st trimester) 2) When the baby becomes self-aware (later in the pregnancy) 3) When the baby can survive outside the womb (depends greatly, but pretty much without exception no fewer than five months) A baby is definitely already "alive" when it is born, so that theory should be thrown out. |
I think the difference people make between your own cheek cells in a petri dish and a zygote is that your cheek cells are your genetic code. They are simply cells that contain your life code. A zygote, however, has a completely different genetic code. It has its own 46 unique chromosomes. When conception takes place, you have a genetically unique, newly existing, individual, whole living human being. It may not be developed, but it is still a unique human entity. Is this when life begins? I am not sure. I still, however, believe it is wrong to prohibit that entity from developing.
