An Argument Against Abortion Essay

Even though most people think the scientific terms, fetus or embryo, is talking about the cells or tissues, the terms really refer to the stages of development. This means that the fetus is not just a small piece of tissue, but a human life. “The beginning of a single human being from a biological viewpoint is a simple, straightforward matter—- the beginning is conception.” (Bowes).

Science tells us that from the moment of fertilization, a fetus is a human. Despite this, however, there is a swarm of controversy surrounding question, when does a fetus become a human? Many people believe that once a baby is conceived, it is considered a living human being. Many of these people believe that whether or not a fetus is a human is chiefly a scientific question. “The question as to when a human being begins is strictly a scientific question, and should be answered by human embryologists - not by philosophers, bioethicists, theologians, politicians, x-ray technicians, movie stars or obstetricians and gynecologists” (Irving). While Irving has a valid point in saying that whether or not a fetus is a human is a question mainly for

I think what I have trouble with is the age-old question of when life actually begins. Do they not think of the embryo as an actual baby? Medical and surgical abortion procedures are performed through the first trimester, or the first three months, or twelve weeks. Let's look at the development of the baby in the first twelve weeks. Six weeks into the pregnancy the embryo has a head, eyes, ears, and a heart with two chambers. Seven weeks the limb buds have grown into arms and legs. By eight weeks the eyes, ears, and head are growing and the face is developing. Fingers and toes can also be seen. Week nine see’s the external genitals appear and by week twelve they have fully differentiated to male or female genitals. So essentially by the end of the first trimester the embryo is fully formed. Dilation and curettage, (D&C), dilation and evacuation (D&E), and induction abortions are all performed through the first trimester or the first three months. All organs are fully developed at this time. Third term abortions are also referred to as late term abortions these are not legal in a number of states, mainly because there is a debate about when the fetus actually become viable to where it can live outside the mother's womb. The majority of medical professionals claim at 24 weeks the fetus is viable. Induction abortions and Dilation and Extraction (D&E) are the abortion

Development of a fertilized egg into a baby is a continuous process and any attempt pinpoint when the egg becomes a person is debatable and true evidence is hard to find (2012 Murnaghan, Ian). A human embryo is a human being but in its early stages in life, just as an infant is a human but in the stages of a baby. Although, the embryo doesn’t currently have the personality or the features of a human, it will soon become a person. For this reason, I believe it should be given the dignity and respect it deserves as a human

At every point in history and in every known society women all around the world use abortion to help control and prevent reproduction , even though it might not be legal. People in the United States have been using abortion until about 1880, because by that time most states had banned it.When abortion was illegal, the possibility of a woman to have an abortion or at least one that was safe , depended upon her economic situation, her ethnicity, and where she lived. Women that could afford to leave the country to have a proper abortion done by somewhere other than the U.S. because it was illegal or they would have to find a physician who would perform the procedure at a high price. The poor women and women of color were often unable to find a provider, they had to turn to dangerous self-abortions, such as inserting knitting needles or coat hangers into the vagina and uterus. In the United States abortion became legal in 1973 because the U.S. government thought that we have had enough advances in modern medicines to now make

Even the language of conception and gestation have been hijacked by politics and religious fundamentalists. All unborn are called “fetuses.” This clearly shows the ignorance of basic human biology. The newly fertilized egg is a zygote --- not a fetus and not a human being. It is a few cells with potential but no distinguishing characteristics and no ability to feel anything. A zygote becomes a blastocyst, which is a zygote that has reached a certain number of cells but has not yet stuck to the uterine walls. Five weeks after conception, snug in the uterine tissue it becomes an embryo. It does not become a fetus until it is ten weeks old and has ears and some facial features. Society laughs at people who call zebras “horses” and yet tolerates the word fetus for zygote, blastocyst and embryo. Getting the language right can help laypeople realize that a zygote or blastocyst is not a baby.

i. Explain- Within 22 days of conception, the baby has a heartbeat. Within six to seven weeks, the baby has detectable brain activity. According to most embryology books a zygote is the beginning of a new human being. An individual's body parts all share the same genetic code. If the unborn child were actually a part of the mother's body, the unborn's cells would have the same genetic code as the cells of the mother; however, this is not the case. The baby has it’s own genetic code. This baby has its own unique DNA, different than any other DNA in the world. The baby is a living person even in the

Every single human being body parts all share the same genetic code. If the mother and unborn child were not different people, the fetus’s cells would have the same genetic code as the mothers. If a man kills a pregnant woman, he is convicted on two counts of murder. It is illegal to execute a pregnant woman on death row because the child is a separate human being (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Article 6.5). As you can see, a Fetus is its own human Being.

Fetus is an unborn offspring of a mammal, but in this case its an unborn human baby more than eight weeks after conception. The fetal stage of development is taken as beginning at the gestational age of eleven weeks, nine weeks after fertilization. The term “fetus” implies that an embryo has developed to the point of being recognizable as a human being. The fetus is about 30 millimeter in length from crown to rump, and weighs about 8 grams. This point is usually taken to the ninth week after fertilization. A fetus is also identified by the existence of all the major body organs, they will not yet be fully matured and functional and

Every baby is a miracle and his or her life is valuable. Abortion is the killing of a human being and goes against God’s word. By the time a baby is conceived, he or she is recognized by God as demonstrated in Jeremiah 1:5 “ Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.” (AbortionsProCon.org) Baby’s born or not do have rights and it is not fair for them to pay the price of the consequences of others.

Much of the discussion on abortion revolves around the issue of personhood. However more fundamental than that is the question of humanhood. If it can be shown that the unborn are human beings, then killing them would be morally wrong. The science of embryology is very clear on this matter. It tells us that the development of a human begins with fertilization, a process by which the spermatozoon and the oocyte unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote (Sadler, T.W., 1995). So, assuming that this statement is true, and all humans by virtue have a right to life, it follows that since the foetuses are innocent human beings, then killing them without proper justification would be immoral. Some might point out the possible flaw here, only humans who are persons have a right to life. While this might seem plausible, there is nonetheless an erroneous assumption

Killing a fetus is the same as murdering a stranger on the street. Central to the morality debate is the issue of when life begins. However, our science is technologically advanced and proves that abortion is murder. According to ("lifesitnews.com"),”Unborn human beings are living, separate, and unique, from the moment of fertilization – better known as conception – a new human life is in existence.” You are not aborting your problems, you’re aborting a life. Once, again abortion can be considered either a simple medical procedure or the murder of an innocent life.

It is the existence of an individual being human or animal. If life begins at conception, is a fetus not considered a live human? A growing fetuses heart begins beating as early as eighteen days from the date of conception. That is a little over two weeks from the day the fetus was conceived. At this point, the fetus is smaller than a pea, however still a person, with a heart beat detectable on a monitor. Unborn babies are considered human beings by the United States government. According to the federal Unborn Victims of Violence Act, whose sole purpose is to protect unborn children from assault and murder, anybody intentionally killing or attempting to kill an unborn child should be punished, for intentionally killing or attempting to kill a human being.

If a fetus is a person, it is a person in very special circumstances – it exists entirely within the body of another much larger person and usually cannot be the object of direct action by another person.

I am inclined to think that we shall probably have to agree that the fetus has already become a human person well before birth. Indeed it comes as a surprise when one-first learns how early in its life it begins to acquire human characteristics. By the tenth week, for example, it already has a face, arms, and legs, fingers and toes; it has internal organs, and brain activity is detectable.