I'm reading several and trying to find the one that best sums up my basis as it applies to why I believe an individual's life begins at conception.
When you mentioned before that you are starting this thread, I was genuinely looking forward to it and I too hoped that you, since you had the idea and did start the topic, would have put forth your position too. Then I just read
iangb's post, particularly the quote in it and it gave me pause and then your post, as quoted above.
What is it that you need to read to decide? I am curious.
None the less here is what I think.
It is safe to assume that what life is in the simplest form is not in debate and anyone with the least curiosity can find some basic and adequate enough definition. I also do not believe that life alone is a determining factor in just about anything. Life becomes important when it has significance. For instance, if one has a pet, say a dog, one will value the life of THAT dog way over the cow that dies for the dinner steak. No different with the life of a friend, relative or even like thinking person, over the life of a criminal about to be executed or terrorist. We value the lives of the children that are closer to us and are willing to risk our lives in feats of heroism to save even one life, yet are often indifferent to the countless children who die due to lack of clean drinking water, disease, famine etc. in some distant land.
Society, in practice at least, does not really care, nor is aware of the countless fetuses that are developing at any given time. We do not care for their well being since we obviously do very little if anything for it. Sure, the pregnant woman and her partner do, in ideal situations and their immediate family, but clearly that is more than anything on an emotional level and there is nothing wrong with that.
So, what life is, beyond acknowledging the biological function, is not really important, but wen is it significant is. It is also important to whom it is significant, just the immediate family or beyond that to society, because based on that importance are the attitudes toward it formulated.