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Biologically, when does human life begin?

Biologically, when does human life begin?

  • Conception

  • Heartbeat/Brain activity detected

  • Viability

  • Birth

  • Some other time - explain

Results are only viewable after voting.

Josie

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Yes, yes - I know it's been asked a million times. But the question came up again in another thread so I thought we'd have a refresher poll.

Biologically, when does human life begin?

Conception
Heartbeat/brain activity detected
Viability
Birth
Someone in between - explain
 
Josie said:
Yes, yes - I know it's been asked a million times.
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Never hurts to ask again. Few topics get the blood boiling better than this topic.
Josie said:
Someone in between - explain
Click to expand...
A fetus is a fetus, but at some point, I would say when it becomes viable to live without the host (the mother). But that is a hard guess on my part, because WHEN does a fetus get to the point it can live outside of the mother?

This is a debate that will rage for eternity. Your question presupposes there IS an inbetween. Yet, the debate ALWAYS devolves into name-calling, insults, ridicule, and yes, utter nonsense.

Why not leave it to the host? The mother? Seriously? Even if I were a pious religious person, imposing MY will on the will of someone else is not what I would choose to do. If God really exists and abortion is really a sin, the sinner will pay on judgement day. Till then the religious types and the non-religious types should just stop trying to make each other feel immoral.

Because immorality is an open question as well. Just like "when does human life begin" is an open question.
 

An individual Homo sapiens life begins at fertilization/implantation.

This is 4th grade biology. OTOH, people often use semantics to divert from an actual issue. People often refer to a new life at birth. Hence "birthdays" instead of "conception days."

The science behind when a life begins is an objective fact...science does not indulge in recognizing value, innocence, morality, or a right to life for any species.

The recognition of the unborn inside a human woman as another human is therefore irrelevant to the abortion issue...abortion does not question the species inside the woman, does it? Josie?
 
Last edited:
Somewhere* Grr.
 
Conception is the beginning of potential human life. A bunch of insentient cells is not a human.
 
Loulit01 said:
Conception is the beginning of potential human life. A bunch of insentient cells is not a human.
Click to expand...

So when does human life begin?
 
Conception of course.
 
Loulit01 said:
There is no fixed date.
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I'm not asking for a month and day. At what point in development does life begin?

Nevermind. I see you edited.

Loulit01 said:
There is no fixed date before the third trimester. Let's go with viability after birth.
Click to expand...

What does "viability after birth" mean?
 
Biologically at conception. However, and given the section, that holds no bearing on personhood, or rights.
 
Josie said:
I'm not asking for a month and day. At what point in development does life begin?

Nevermind. I see you edited.



What does "viability after birth" mean?
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You said human life, not life. There's a difference.
 
Loulit01 said:
When viable without the mother.
Click to expand...

So at viability inside the womb - not a human.
If removed from the womb at the same stage of gestation - human?
 
Loulit01 said:
I don't understand the question.
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You said viable without the mother. The viability stage occurs inside the womb. Does the baby have to be removed from the womb in order to be "human"?
 
Loulit01 said:
Is this another anti-abortion thread in disguise? Because I'm done with those.
Click to expand...

You are in the Abortion Forum................................................................
 
Josie said:
You said viable without the mother. The viability stage occurs inside the womb. Does the baby have to be removed from the womb in order to be "human"?
Click to expand...
Nope.
 
SNOWFLAKE said:
But that is a hard guess on my part, because WHEN does a fetus get to the point it can live outside of the mother?
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That such a point happens, is a fact. However, we have no reliable method of determining this, and there is no one answer that would apply to all fetuses. We can look at statistics and maybe come up with averages, but in the end, we more often see a fetus come out of the woman without knowing when that change over point occurred. Also, it that with or without medical intervention. That can make an difference as to when.

SNOWFLAKE said:
Because immorality is an open question as well. Just like "when does human life begin" is an open question.
Click to expand...

And also what is "human life". We could go into a whole other thread on that topic.
 
Loulit01 said:
Conception is the beginning of potential human life. A bunch of insentient cells is not a human.
Click to expand...
Even single cells consist of life. The question isn't when does it become human, or when does it become being. Although many are making that implication when they pose the question, or give an answer.
 
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