Just a few days ago a DRAFT decision by the Supreme Court concerning Roe v. Wade was leaked to the press. This is, of course, was an unfortunate and extraordinary breach of faith and perhaps the law. The Draft decision overturned Roe v. Wade and ordered that laws governing abortions be determined by the various states as their citizens saw fit. The immediate response to this was an outcry by those who would have few if any restrictions on abortions in this country. For now I want to ignore the threats to the SCOTUS conservatives and the rhetoric surrounding things like “women’s reproductive rights” and “women’s health” except to say those are both red herrings. Instead I want to focus on the central issue of life- what it is and when it begins.
Earlier today I had an exchange with some one on Facebook about this very issue. This is what the individual wrote:
”While I don't know where the exact line is, I don't think it's anywhere close to the moment an egg is fertilized. There are no organs, no organized nervous system, no cognitive brain processes (the closest thing I can identify as potentially signifying life)….”
This is the same nebulous description of “life” and when it begins that virtually every pro-choice ( a misnomer) individual will offer in defense of abortion on demand. In some cases their assertion of when life begins is restricted to fetal viability out side the womb and in other more extreme cases some nebulous time AFTER birth which allows some abortions to occur after a baby is born.
Here is, in part, my response:
”That would be week 12 -- on average. Some would be sooner and some later. And you acknowledge that you don't know where the "exact line is".
You seem to be assuming that I believe that life begins at conception because of either my politics or my faith. That's not quite true. I'm a biochemist and as it turns out science and my faith coincide.
Having said that the issue becomes one of defining "Life". As does the Supreme Court and other courts as well when I am uncertain about a thing I resort to the dictionary in this case its Merriam-Webster. Please read carefully:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life
In that definition the reader is referred to the definition "metabolism":
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metabolism
While your sense of "life" would seem to imply that a fetus must be a fully developed and functioning human being before life begins, Merriam-Webster disagrees with you.
Further, Human development isn't really complete until well after birth which is convenient for those who insist on abortion as a right because it allows for that infant to be killed (aborted) EVEN AFTER birth.
You might want to give some thought to your position.”
So here we are. Life depends on metabolism and if that is case and we all accept that to be true - then Life does, in fact, begin at conception because metabolism begins at the moment of fertilization.
But let’s go a bit further let’s look at that definition of metabolism just to ensure that I’m not making something up to win a debate.
”METABOLISM: the sum of the processes in the buildup and destruction of protoplasm specifically : the chemical changes in living cells by which energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated (see ASSIMILATE entry 1 sense 1b)”
Here is entry 1 sense 1b: “to take in and utilize as nourishment : to absorb into the system, for example (added for clarity), The body assimilates digested food.”
Taken as a whole there can be no doubt that human life begins at conception because upon fertilization “energy is provided for vital processes and activities and new material is assimilated”. It is really that simple.
Abortion is not about “reproductive rights”. Reproduction by definition (Merriam-Webster again) is “the process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring”. There is nothing in the definition of “reproduction” that suggests a linkage to the termination of a life.
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew [a] you, before you were born I set you apart….” Jeremiah 1:15
Union, KY
8 May, Mother’s Day 2022