We must accept that life begins at conception. Human life is a continuous process, starting the second we are created. Everything beyond this starting point is merely a developmental milestone and is nonessential to personhood.
As a society, we have to designate fertilization as the starting point of life. Why, you may ask? First, abortion is a problem with steep moral implications. Seventy-three million babies are aborted every year. If abortion does kill people, it is killing people now – and at staggering rates – by methods that would make most sick.
Abortion pills (almost equally dangerous for the mother and the baby) starve the fetus to death in the womb. At clinics around the country, vacuums suction the baby, limb by limb, out of the womb. Occasionally, doctors manually dismember the fetus with forceps.
In justifying abortion and its effects, pro-choice advocates often apply arbitrary standards to exclude fetuses from being considered a life. These benchmarks, if applied universally, would condemn many vulnerable populations to death. Thus, we must establish a coherent standard for life, and the only coherent standard is a standard where life begins at conception.
At conception, a sperm and an egg combine to make a single-celled zygote. This zygote has its own DNA and chromosomes. The zygote will then implant on the uterus wall, and over the next few days, transition to an embryo, then a fetus, and finally into the newborn baby you’ll hold in your arms.
Some argue that a heartbeat marks the beginning of life, which happens approximately 35-37 days into the pregnancy. However, if a heartbeat is an indicator of life, then we would be allowed to kill the 3 million Americans who need a pacemaker. In fact, if a doctor rejects a pacemaker for a person in need of one, and the person dies, the doctor can lose their license for medical malpractice and medical negligence.
Others suggest that viability, or when a baby can survive on its own out of the womb, is the beginning of personhood. However, this falls flat also. A newborn baby is completely incapable of surviving on its own. Many children are as well. If a parent feels unsuitable to take care of their child, they are still responsible for the child’s well-being until placed with a more capable person. Otherwise, the parent would get a felony charge of child abandonment. The same concept can be applied to elder abuse and negligence.
There is also the idea that sentience and consciousness mark the beginning of life, but this applies to everyday situations. People are not conscious when they are asleep or have passed out, yet they can not be legally killed. Babies acquire sentience at about 24-26 weeks. So, would you be morally ok with killing someone that you knew was going to wake up from a coma in 5 ½ months at the latest? Even if you are, the law would not permit this.
I agree with the notion that a zygote and embryo is just a clump of cells. We are also all just a clump of cells. The benefits of arguing that life begins at conception go beyond the abortion debate. It also ensures that you have protections and a right to life even if you are dependent on medical devices to survive, if your child needs to go to the NICU, if you need specialized care when you grow old, or if you fall into a temporary coma.
A fetus is not an idea. By killing a baby in the womb, you are killing its potential, and potential is invaluable. Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro was going to abort her 4th child because he was unwanted and a financial burden on the family. However, she was denied the procedure and had to continue the pregnancy. On the 5th of February in 1985 she gave birth to the famous Cristiano Ronaldo. Had she had the abortion, Ronaldo would not be alive to inspire the world with his athleticism and dedication. Estimates show that about 28% of Generation Z was aborted. I wonder who we lost.
Every abortion ends a human life. We can not kill a human person because it is an inconvenience for us. Hence, life begins at conception. This standard protects all of the vulnerable, not only fetuses.
