Well opposed to when life actually begins, I would venture to say that from the moment of conception to about 8 weeks, it is an embryo, and after that, and until birth, it is a fetus. Only after it is actually born is it a baby. It is mostly a personal question to ask, but IMO during birth is the moment when the fetus actually becomes a human.
The reason why I personally don't think life begins before birth is simple. Until the child is born there's only 1 person capable of supporting it, and this person does so no matter what they choose, but after birth, who supports it becomes totally voluntary. Actually Katie, I believe stem cells are stem cells, which are extracted long before any developmental stages in the fetus. A human doesn't actually exist until the umbilical cord is clamped off, so I really don't see your argument there. IMO it is indeed a crime against humanity to allow children to be born who will suffer all their lives, whose life expectancy is dramatically short, and whose care places an big time burden on families and society. All this pain could have been easily avoided- abortion. I think that the real danger is that research such as stem cells, with enormous potential benefits are suppressed mostly because it conflicts with some people's religious beliefs. These same objections were raised against autopsies, anesthesia, artificial insemination, and the whole genetic revolution of our day, but big time benefits have come from each of these. Do you agree?
The reason why I personally don't think life begins before birth is simple. Until the child is born there's only 1 person capable of supporting it, and this person does so no matter what they choose, but after birth, who supports it becomes totally voluntary. Actually Katie, I believe stem cells are stem cells, which are extracted long before any developmental stages in the fetus. A human doesn't actually exist until the umbilical cord is clamped off, so I really don't see your argument there. IMO it is indeed a crime against humanity to allow children to be born who will suffer all their lives, whose life expectancy is dramatically short, and whose care places an big time burden on families and society. All this pain could have been easily avoided- abortion. I think that the real danger is that research such as stem cells, with enormous potential benefits are suppressed mostly because it conflicts with some people's religious beliefs. These same objections were raised against autopsies, anesthesia, artificial insemination, and the whole genetic revolution of our day, but big time benefits have come from each of these. Do you agree?