Wicked - 05 July 2007 01:04 PM
When does life begin?
If you want to look at it from a spiritual point of view then Genesis 2:7 says that God formed humans from the dust of the ground, and that we became ALIVE when He placed the breath of life into us, therefore we become alive when we take our first breath.
If you want to look at it scientifically then you must agree that Life is simply a state that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body. An embryo cannot be considered autonomous or vital and functional until birth. Until then it has a symbiotic existance with the mother. Therefore, again true life would begin when we take our first breath and are not living off of the mother (think of it this way, if the mother dies the fetus dies. So it is not truly vital and functional until the baby can support it’s own life)
I believe that life truly begins when the first breath is taken. However, I do not feel that abortion (especially late term abortion) is a choice I would make given the fact that a growing child’s existance is being terminated. It’s an individual choice and I don’t make any judgements, enter into debate, or preach either way about it.
But the fetus is capable of movement, facial expression, and reaction to stimulus while in the mother in later stages of pregnancy. Surely a fetus that moves when a particular piece of music plays or kicks when the father talks is alive?
