Part I - The Problem with Roe
Part II - When Does Human Life Begin?
Part III - A Human Life Begins at Conception

Part I - The Problem with Roe

The Testimony of Science

Personhood

Legal Personhood

One of the most serious problems with Roe vs. Wade was the statement, "We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins." (Roe v. Wade, 1973) This declaration is problematic for two reasons:

1. Before allowing the destruction of something in the womb, the first obligation is to resolve the question of whether or not this is indeed a human life, and,

2.When a human life begins is not a difficult question; the question has already been answered by science.

The Testimony of Science
A Very Brief Recent History: 1962 - 2007

1962 "...all organisms...begin life as but a single cell. This is true of the human being..who begins life as a fertilized ovum." -- Isaac Asimov, The Genetic Code.

1963 "An abortion requires an operation. It kills the life of a baby after it begins." -- Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Plan Your Children foe Health and Happiness.

1964 "It is the penetration of the ovum by a spermatozoan and the resulting intermingling of the chromosomal material...that..initiates the life of a new individual." -- B.M. Patten, Foundations of Embryology.

1965 "A human being originates in the union of two gametes, the ovum and the spermatozoan." -- J.A.F. Roberts, An Introduction to Medical Genetics.

1967 "The initiation of a new life occurs at the moment when fertilization is completed by fusion of the two sets of chromosomes." -- Treloar, Behn, and Cowan, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

1970 The result (of the abortion debate) has been a curious avoidance other scientific fact...that human life begins at conception and is continuous..." -- California Medicine.

1975 "The development of a human being begins with fertilization..." -- Medical Embryology

1988 "Human development begins after the union of male and female gametes ...during a process known as fertilization (conception)." -- Essentials of Human Embryology .

1996 "The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual." -- Patten's Foundations of Embryology .

2003 "Zygote. This cell results from the union of an oocyte (egg) and a sperm ...A zygote is the beginning of a new human being.
Embryo. The developing human during its earliest stages..." -- The Developing Human .

2007 "Each of us originated as a single celled-embryo, and from that moment have developed along a continuous biological trajectory throughout our existence. To speak of 'an embryo' is to designate a human being at a particular stage. -- "Advancing Stem Cell Science Without Destroying Human Life", Domestic Policy Council, the White House.

Personhood

Much has been said as to whether or not the life in the womb is a "person". By definition, a person is a human being. Ordinarily, we think of a person in terms of what we usually see: a baby, a child, an adolescent, an adult. An embryo or fetal child, by virtue of genetics and physiology, is a living human being, a person, and is worthy of legal protection. Some have tried in the past to define a person by various capabilities or functions, self-awareness of viability for example. However, these capabilities simply mark stages in development or maturity, and do not define our innate humanness.

Legal Personhood

Some have tried to claim that the unborn child was not a person "under the law". And yet, there had been precedent for legal personhood for the unborn child established in various court rulings prior to Roe v. Wade.

1795 The unborn child had the right to inherit property. -- Doe v. Clark

1798 Unborn children were "entitled to all the privileges of other persons." -- Thelluson v. Woodward

1927 "Non-viability of a fetus should not bar recovery (of damages)." The same case also held the unborn child was a "person" in the eyes of the law. -- Torrigan v. Watertown News Co.

1964 An unborn child needed a blood transfusion for Rh factor. The mother refused on religious grounds. The court ruled her right to practice her religion was subordinate to her unborn child's right to live. -- Fitkin v. Anderson

1969 The unborn child could get social security benefits if the father died when the child was still in utero. -- Wagner v. Gardner

1971 "The legal conclusions in Griswold as to the rights of individuals to determine without governmental interference whether or not to enter into the process of procreation cannot be extended to ... those situations wherein a new life has begun...Once life has commenced, the constitutional protections found in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments impose on the state the duty of safeguarding it." -- Steinberg v. Rhoades

 

(From original compilations by Scientists for Life, The Handbook on Abortion, 1979 ed., and NCCB)

Part II - When Does Human Life Begin?

Jack Wilke, M.D.

 A U.S. Senate Judiciary sub-committee has held hearings on a bill that would define when human life begins. By then defining all living things as legal persons, the Congress could hopefully provide the basis by which states could protect unborn human lives if they wish to. In the first two days of hearings, seven of the first eight  inter-national medical authorities agreed that human life began at conception which they defined as the same as fertilization. Professor Rosenberg, from Yale, did not agree. He stated that “human life,” as he saw it, did not exist until viability.This has been reported as a disagreement. In fact, it was not. The first seven authorities defined human life using a yardstick of measurement that primarily judged by scientific, biologic facts. Dr. Rosenberg and some other scientists who testified later, while not denying the accuracy of the biologic facts presented, used a different primary yardstick to make their judgment. Rosenberg’s judgment came from his own personal philosophic belief which was that “human life” began at viability.In order for anyone to see this clear cut difference, the following must be understood.

   I.  Theological Belief or Religious Faith – This is best explained by considering three people who might state their respective beliefs as follows:

• I believe in God. I believe He creates a soul. I believe the soul is created at conception. Therefore, I believe that human life begins at conception.
• I also believe in God and a soul; but I don’t believe the soul is created until birth. Therefore, I believe that human life begins at birth.
• I don’t believe in God or a soul.

Comment:

• the above are statements of religious faith or its absence
• the above are personal beliefs
• none of the above religious faith beliefs can be factually proven
• each individual has a right to his or her own religious beliefs
• people of good will can hold diametrically differing religious beliefs.

II. Philosophic Theories - Human life can be defined by using a wide variety of philosophic beliefs and theories. These use social or psychological rationale which can involve biologic mileposts. Examples of philosophic definitions of when human life begins include the following: when there is consciousness, when there is movement, when there is brain  function, or a heartbeat, when viable, when wanted, when there has been an exchange of love, when humanized, when a person (however “person” is defined), if mentally or physically normal, etc.

Comment:

• while admittedly arrived at through a certain reasoning process, all of the above remain theories.
• none can be factually proven by science.
• each individual has a right to hold his own philosophic beliefs.

III. Biologic Facts – Biologic human life is defined by examining the scientific facts of human development. This is a field where the no controversy, no disagreement. There is only one set of facts, only one embryology book studied in medical school. The more scientific knowledge of fetal development is learned, the more science has confirmed that the beginning of any one human individual’s life, biologically speaking, begins at conception of the union of his father’s sperm and his mother’s ovum, a process called “conception,” “fertilization,” or “fecundation.” This is so because this being, from fertilization, is alive, human, complete and growing.

Comment:

• the above is not a religious faith belief
• the above is not a philosophic theory
• the above is not debatable, not questioned, is a universally accepted scientific fact.

Can the question “when does human life begin” be answered?

The very existence of a nation state demands an answer. If a nation exists for one reason it is to provide order and equal protection by law for all its citizens. We must define “human life” and that life must be granted “legal personhood” if we are to be true to the total thrust of human rights and civil rights that has been the rock solid base of our form of government.

What yardstick, what intellectual discipline, what method of measurement can we, should we, use when making this fateful definition?

The question of when human life begins is a scientific question. Therefore, we should look to science, rather than philosophy or religion, for the answer.

Can a nation make laws on this basis, laws that, while protecting certain “human lives,” also impose specific restrictions or even burdens upon others?

The ethical principle is that there is a hierarchy of rights, and the right to life itself is supreme. There is aright to free speech, but not to shout “fire” in a theater. A man has a right to swing his fist, but that right stops at your nose. We all have the right to the pursuit of happiness, but we cannot this by discrimination against, stealing from, injuring or killing others. Laws enforcing civil rights are of this nature. Abortion is a civil rights issue.

Conclusion:

Each individual human life begins at the beginning, at fertilization, and is a continuum from that time until death.Our government has the right and duty to protect the lives of all living humans in this nation regardless of place of residence (living in or out of the womb), degree of perfection, age, sex, or degree of dependency.This protection should be guaranteed by our Constitution and be enforced through the due process of law.A civilization will ultimately be judged by how it treats its smallest, the most dependent, the most innocent, among its members. Did the nation cherish, protect, love and nourish them – or kill them?

More information:

Fetal Development, From Conception to Birth, National Right to life Committee

www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/fetaldevelopment.html

WPClinic.org: Choices You Can Live With www.wpclinic.org/parenting/fetal-development/first-trimester

Abortion Facts.com

Uses Why Can’t We Love them Both? By Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Willke

www.abortionfacts.com/fetal_development/prenatal_development.asp

The Visible Embryo – computer generated graphics, 3D and 4D ultrasound images

www.visembryo.com/baby/index.htmll

Milestones of Early Life – Heritage House ’76, Inc.

(800) 858-3040

www.heritagehouse76.com

In the Womb-National Geographic.

Outstanding 3D and 4D ultrasound images in DVD format.

The Virtual Embryo

Dynamic Development, Modules in Developmental Biology

www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/

virtualembryo/dev_biol.html

Prenatal Development and Birth

Will take you to a variety of sites featuring college-level tutorials with excellent graphics and photos.

www.classweb.gmu.edu/awinsler/ordp/prenatal.html

Part III - A Human Life Begins at Conception

Linda Thayer

Recently, the Massachusetts Legislature passed legislation which, among other things, would allow the creation and destruction of human embryos for stem cell research. In order to do this, they essentially over-turned a Massachusetts Law which defined an unborn child accurately and scientifically as the individual human life in existence and developing from fertilization (conception) until birth. They rewrote the law to define an individual human life as beginning at implantation (which occurs from 5 to 8 days after fertilization), when the embryo buries itself in the lining of the womb. In doing so, they ignored the consistent testimony of embryologists that an individual human life does, in fact, begin at conception.

In the most recent edition of The Developing Human, the authors define zygote or fertilized ovum as “the beginning of a new human being.” Scores of other statements can be easily obtained through a quick search of embryology texts from over the past several decades. At a recent event, two state senators gave the following four justifications for the changes in Massachusetts law; none of them can withstand serious scrutiny:

1. “At conception, a new genome [a set of genetic instructions] is formed.”

This statement is correct, but incomplete. At conception (fertilization), a new human genome is formed within the physiology of a living cell. The single cell that results from conception [zygote] is genetically human, self-developing and therefore is an individual human being. Through  series of divisions, the single cell becomes a multi-cellular embryo and matures through various stages to become an adult.

2. “Individuality is conferred later.” [twinning occurs at up to 14 days gestation; chimeras]

Identical twins occur when the zygote or early embryo divides completely. This occurs in only 3 or 4 of every thousand births – 0.3 - 0.4%.

This means that over 99.6% of conceived humans are and remain individuals from the moment of conception. The formation of identical twins is not completely understood; however, recent studies indicate that this may not be an ordinary part of embryonic development, but is caused by external factors, such as variations in the thickness of the membrane that surrounds the embryo.

The most recent advances in embryology confirm that the embryo is not a mere cluster of unspecialized cells, but an integrated, individual human being. Just as in a multi-cellular adult, the embryo’s cells work in cooperation and communication with one another for its own growth, development and continued existence. Differentiation into cells with different roles and functions begins with the very first cell division and proceeds according to an internal plan. The cells of an intact embryo are parts of an individual regardless of their potential when separated externally or artificially.

Chimeras are individuals formed when two individual embryos are combined. There are only about 30 recorded instances in recent medical literature. The formation of a chimera simply means that two individuals have ceased to be and a third has come into being from their parts.

Rather than rewriting laws to mistakenly identify implantation as the beginning of an individual, we should maintain the accuracy of fertilization (conception) as the beginning of a human life, and, include in accord with the intent of the law, twins, triplets, clones, etc.

3. “Life vs. Personhood.”

[Catholicism, Judaism, Islam disagree on the status of the early embryo]

By definition, a person is a human being. Ordinarily, we think of a person in terms of what we usually see: a baby, a child, an adolescent, or an adult. An embryo or a fetal child, by virtue of genetics and physiology, is a living being, a person, and is worthy of legal protection. Some have tired in the past to define a person by various capabilities or functions, self-awareness or viability, for example. However, these capabilities simply mark stages in development and do not define our innate humanness. An embryo is a person at a very early stage of life.

4. “When does life begin for the embryo created through nuclear transfer (no conception; no sperm)?”

The purpose of fertilization (conception) is to form a complete set of genetic instructions (a diploid number of chromosomes) for the new individual, and to initiate division and differentiation of the cells. Ordinarily, this is accomplished when the sex cell of each parent contributes half of the genetic material. In nuclear transfer, the purpose of fertilization is accomplished when a complete set of genetic instructions from a body cell is transferred to an ovum, whose own set of instructions has been removed, and development of the resulting zygote is externally stimulated. This is cloning; a conception has taken place; a new life has begun. It is the same method by which the first mammal was cloned – a sheep named Dolly - in 1997.

In addition to its flawed reasoning in formulating this legislation, our lawmakers have avoided credible evidence that certain kinds of adult stem cells exhibit the same type of flexibility as embryonic stem cells, and have demonstrated far more potential to provide therapies for various medical conditions. In doing so, they have unnecessarily initiated a moral crisis by allowing, for the first time in our history, the creation of human beings for the sole purpose of experimentation and destruction. Hopefully, the citizens of the Commonwealth will contact their legislators and urge them to repeal this legislation and restore respect for human life.

References

The Developing Human, K. Moore, 2003; “Modern Embryology and the ‘Pre-Embryo,’” R. Doerflinger, 2003; “What Does it Mean to Be Human?” F. Beckwith, 2003.

More information:

Massachusetts Citizens for Life

www.masscitizensforlife.org

Click on Issues, “Stem Cell research/Human Cloning” for fact sheets and testimony relating to these issues in Massachusetts.

“Issues” also contains information on a variety of pro-life topics, including abortion and the end of life. Find research, downloadable forms, links, pro-life arguments, etc.

“Legislation” links you to the Massachusetts Elections Divisions web site for information on your state legislators. Or Call MCFL at (617) 242-4199

National Right to Life Committee

The latest news and information on all right to life issues. Click on:

“Legislative Issues-In Depth Information” to research current federal and state legislation as well as proposed and pending legislative issues. Provides key documents, testimony, relevant media responses.

NRLC Legislative Action Center

Action Alerts and voting records for the both US House and Senate.

Write to Congress:

By typing in your zip code, you can find your elected representatives in

Congress. Send free e-mails to your congressional representatives on key pro-life issues.

Web site: www.nrlc.org

Contact information:

National Right to Life Committee

512 10^th St. NW

Washington, DC 20004

(202) 626-8800

NRLC@nrlc.org