When does life begin?

Every individual has their own view on when life begins. Technically, there is no one correct answer. There are both religious factors along with scientific factors that play a huge roll in the most popular answers as well as most reasonable answers. All together there are approximately six views on this "touchy" subject. Each and every one has a reasonable argument, and facts to support it. I have give you facts, sources, and examples and now it is time for you to decide when you think life begins. Feel free to comment this post and share your thoughts!

My Opinion

In my opinion, life begins at conception--the moment a sperm enters and fertilizes the egg. Through reading many articles and questioning other's opinions I have come to conclusion that according to me, life begins at conception. A major reason why I hold this belief has to do with the definition of conception, it is know as "the fusion of gametes to produce a new organism" (Wiki). An organism refers to anything that is living. Humans are organisms, animals, plants, etc. The moment the sperm fertilizes the egg, if it becomes an organism it is living and alive. Therefor this is the start of when life begins, when the egg starts living. An article by Jon E. Dougherty, Life Begins at Conception, gives a interesting opinion, "Also — and this is key — we humans are never "fully-developed." We're not born "complete"; we grow, change, mature and age constantly, which means we're always "developing," and we develop though the first nine months of our lives attached to a "host" — our mothers". This is another point that further convinced me life begins at conception.

Life Begins At 1.5 Years Old

There is an on-going debate over the thought that life begins when an infant has gained self-awareness which is usually and 18 months old or so.  An article by the Center For Socinian Studies called, "Philosophers and the Issue of Abortion" agrees with this view. Philosopher Mary Ann Warren states that in order for something to be considered to obtaining a "human life" it must be able to " have consciousness of objects and events external and internal to the being, and in particular the capacity to feel pain; reasoning -- the capacity to solve new and relatively complex problems;  self-motivated activity; a capacity to communicate; and the presence of self-concept and self-awareness". A fetus or infant does not have the skills of reasoning, self-motivated activity, a capacity to communicate, and self-awareness until a minimum of 18 months or so. When Life Begins describes more of this issue with an example from Micheal Tooley's article, "Abortion and Infanticide". They state that in Tooley's artice he "argues that abortion and infanticide are both acceptable because life does not begin until the human child gains self-awareness. This generally occurs around 18 months after birth". Michael Tooley, another highly-acclaimed philosopher from Oxford agrees and backs up this debatable reason along with Mary Ann Warren.

Life Begins At Birth

After the fetus is suitable to survive outside of the uterus there is a little bit of time, and then the baby is born. During birth something special enters the babies body which make it suitable to be considered alive, a soul. MeaningfulLife describes how, "A fetus, of course, is a living organism complete with functioning brain, heart, and limbs. But it is only an extension, albeit a living one, of its mother’s being.  It contains life but is not yet an independent life, sustained by its own force". It continues to state that when the "breath of air" or soul has entered the baby at birth is when the baby becomes its own person. It is like the famous saying, "If you crack an egg and eat its contents, are you eating an egg or a chicken". Adding on to MeaningfulLife's point, Baptists For Life describe the signs of life: heartbeat, brainwaves, independent movement, senses, and breathing.As soon as the baby comes out of the mother's womb it begins breathing in oxygen, real oxygen. Not spiritually breathing but physically taking in air. Baptists for Life states that when that baby take's its first breath, it is alive and human.

Life Begins When the Fetus Can Survive Outside the Uterus

Following conception, gastrulation, and the neurological development of a fetus comes the period of growth and expansion of the fetus. The few weeks after the brain develops and begins transmitting EEGs (electroencephalograms) there is a period of time where the grown fetus is able to survive outside of the uterus. At the time the fetus will be able to experience pain, says Ontario Consultants. This is a solid reason as to why this point of development would be considered the beginning of life and supports Web MD's claim to the baby hiccuping. If the baby can experience pain like Ontario Consultants say, it can experience hiccups like what was said by Web MD..  According to Web MD, starting at 24 weeks, you may notice jerking from the baby if it hiccups. Hiccuping is a sign of life; dead people do not hiccup however living people do. This is another sign why life may begin when the fetus is fully developed.

Life Begins When the Fetus Functions Neurologically

During the few weeks of conception and gastrulation, the fetus's brain is not functioning. But around the middle weeks of pregnancy, the fetus begins to produce brain waves. Many people have different views on if this is correct or not; there for I started backwards. "It is said by the medical profession and supported by legal and some ethical consensus that if a person's entire brain is dead, the person is dead" says the University of Southern California, Health Sciences Department. Therefor, it is debated that if as soon as a brain no longer works, we are considered dead, than as soon as the brain begins to work, we are considered alive. This goes along with writing in Joseph P. Hester's book, when the brain develops the fetus is considered alive just as when the brain is not functioning or such the fetus is considered dead. There are also other theories that correspond to region. In Joseph P. Hester's book, The Ten Commandments: A Handbook of Religious, Legal, and Social Issues, it states under the sixth commandment (thou shall not kill), "It is not until sometime after twenty-eight weeks of gastrulation that the fetal brain has the capacity to carry on the same range of neurological activity as the brain in a full-term newborn" (Hester 231). This is suggesting that after the neurological process is complete the brain is equivalent to the brain of a newly born child, therefor a developed brain allows an organism to think and act, thus pronouncing it living.

Life Begins at Gastrulation

Gastrulation, according to the Kenyon College, is cell movement that results in a massive reorganization of the embryo from a ball of cells into a multi-layer organism. During gastrulation, groups of cells are formed for each system that the matured organism will have. There is a group for the nervous system, skeletal system, organ system, muscle system, circulatory system, and integumentary system. This process occurs for every living species--wether human or animal. Movements are allowed on massive scales during this process. This allows cells to establish great complexity from their very simple starting form (Cold Spring Harbor). Some people believes this marks the begging of life due to this is when the embryo becomes an organism, which is considered living.