Jackson50 said:
akuma587 said:
Jackson50 said:
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.
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I agree that it is a unique organism that did not before exist, but it does not magically start living at fertilization. I am glad you are using some better vocabulary and actually responding to my claim logically compared to some of these other people. It is a reasonable ethical debate whether or not we should prohibit that entity from developing into a human being. And that is not to say that if the baby is aborted that it doesn't lose its life, because it does.
However, this is still different from the "life" question from a sentience standpoint, but we are making some progress.
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The latest I would put the beginning of life is the detection of brain waves. I believe brain wave detection begins at 40 days from conception. As I earlier stated, I think the debate should shift to whether or not it is ethical to prohibit a zygote/embryo (human entity) from developing.
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That's a really bad answer that would in effect stop all abortions. Very very few women know they're pregnant until after a minimum of a month unless they're methodically checking with tests. Besides basic brain activity that only arises from having a brain (which ALL creatures above the size of microorganizims do in some form or another) is quite different then complex human thought and emotion which takes months to develop, not 40 days. If brain waves are all it takes for you I hope you're a Janist who advocates absolute life for all creatures including bugs and spiders. Make sure you walk around sweeping the ground in front of you like they do so you don't accidentally crush an ant which has the same quality of brain waves (probably more brain waves actually) as a 40 day old fetus.
