When does life begin?

[BurtWorm]

Poll question: When does life begin?

[SoCalDem]

1. When your kids grow up and move out

[Extend a Hand]

4. ROFL

I'm glad I have something to look forward too ;)

[msgadget]

5. LOL!

:thumbsup:

[ClintonTyree]

11. Don't think it ends then.............

they're permanently attached to your wallet and emotions for life. Oh, that it would end when they move out! If I didn't love them so much it would bother me. ;)

[SoCalDem]

18. But..at least then you're not tripping over their friends and

all that STUFF they leave all over the place..

I don;t mind helping them when they need it, but i am GLAD they all have their own places :)

[RaleighNCDUer]

33. Damn. That reminds me, I have to send my Mom a check.

Things got kinda stretched after my divorce, ya see...

[More Than A Feeling]

2. Technically, sperm and eggs are alive.

So to truly go back to the beginning of life, you'd have to go back to the beginning of all life on Earth.

[patcox2]

3. The sperm is alive, the egg is alive.

An acorn is alive. But it is not an oak tree. Don't use their terminology, its not about "life." They choose the term "pro-life" as propaganda, a way to frame the debate.

Its not about when life begins, life is there even before conception, the sperm and the egg are alive and so is the zygote.

The issue is when is it a "person." I would say at about 12 to 18 months after birth.

[BurtWorm]

7. Excellent points.

Of course it is not really about "life." I think even for that other camp. For them, it's about "souls."

[cali]

12. You're kidding, right?

Any parent will tell you that personhood arrives way before the 12th month. Even very young infants have distinctive personalities.

[BurtWorm]

20. He's entitled to that opinion.

Peter Singer thinks personhood develops months after birth, and he cites ancient Greek philosophy and Locke as his authorities.

[patcox2]

21. My dog has a distinct personality, too.

But I am kidding about it being after birth. I am, however, willing to say viability is an trait vitally necessary for a collection of cells to be considered a "person."

[plcdude]

26. exactly

this is the problem with the "life" argument. Thanks for saying that.

[Freedom_Aflaim]

37. 1 year AFTER birth !?

Surely you jest

[sweetheart]

6. it begins now

now
now
now
now
now
.
.
.

[Turbineguy]

8. 40?

According to Gerard Hoffnung, life begins at 38.

Of course, he says he was born at 2. So the math works.

[skygazer]

9. When Bush is out of office n/t

[LunaC]

10. When the IRS gives you a tax deduction for the new dependent nt

[Mabus]

13. Personally - about two minutes after birth

At least that's when my life began. I was resuscitated after I was strangled to death by my own umbilical cord upon birth. First they had to cut away the caul from my face so they could administer resuscitation efforts. Obviously their efforts worked.

[RaleighNCDUer]

34. Born with a caul?

Are you psychic?

[Mabus]

36. I knew you were going to ask that!

My husband would say "yes". So would more than a few of my friends. Although I was the only one in my family born with a caul most of my siblings have different forms of "the gift". Both of my parents were "gifted" so I believe hereditary was the bigger determinant. I've worked on shutting it down most of my life but it always leaked through. In the past couple of years I have decided to stop fighting it and learn to embrace it.

on edit: most people ask about me being dead and coming back. You're one of the few who have heard about being born with a caul.

[johnnie]

14. Life began at the beginning of time

Of course there was no beginning, so I would reckon that life hasn't started.

[stray cat]

15. Does the fetus have to be viable outside of medical intervention?

What about surgery on a fetus in the womb?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

16. I picked "too vague"

I've had 3 miscarriages. according to these fundies, that would make either my body or god a murderer. Makes their head explode when I ask them which.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. It's actually worse than "too vague" -- it's the WRONG term.

Life?

If I pinch my finger, the drop of blood that undignifiedly falls on the pavement is alive. A blade of grass is alive. An amoeba is alive. Life is not the value in question. It's sentience. Humanity, if you may.

[PublicWrath]

39. I agree....

It's sentience.

I don't think the anti-choice people really care about when life starts. I think it's about bringing back penalties for female sexual freedom.

[im10ashus]

17. At 40.

:-)

[derby378]

19. Bill Hicks on conception and life

"You're not a human 'til you're in my phonebook."

[raysr]

22. When * leaves the WH

[FSogol]

23. What time does happy hour start today? n/t

[mondo joe]

24. This is a philisophical question, not a medical or legal

question.

[bananas]

27. Life is a continuous cycle - there is no beginning or ending.

[BurtWorm]

29. We don't actually know that.

In fact the evidence is that there was a beginning and we're headed for an ending.

[berni_mccoy]

28. DEFINE LIFE

Is a virus alive? It reproduces (using a host), but does not have DNA.

Is a prion alive? It's a strand of proteins that replicate using other proteins, denaturing them in the process (think Mad Cow).

Is a zygot alive? It is a cell (or set of cells) that is the result of fertilization. Millions of zygots are created every day in humans but are not viable and never make it past a single month. Humans also create them on a daily basis in pitri dishes for artificial insemination. They can not survive without a female host uterus.

Is an embryo alive? It is a diploid eukaryote in its earliest stage of development. It can not survive without a female host uterus.

Is a fetus alive? It is a developing mammal after the embryonic stage and before birth. In humans, a fetus develops from the end of the 8th week of pregnancy, when the major structures and organ systems have formed, until birth. The earliest a fetus can be considered viable (live on it's own) is 25 weeks (the current limit of viability), and then only with extraordinary medical care and suffering great medical complications. Is a fetus alive before 25 weeks?

Until we define what the definition of LIFE is, we will never be able to answer questions like these.

[BurtWorm]

32. Life. (laiff) n., pl. lives. 1. A bowl of cherries. 2. A bitch

and then you die.

;)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

30. Conception.

[K-W]

31. The whole process is alive, the issue is when rights enter the picture.

when does that life become a human.

[Schema Thing]

35. When the Divorce is Final?

[Javaman]

38. When moron* is kicked out of the WH nt

[AllieB]

40. at the hop...boys and girls

XTC

[bemildred]

41. Other: around 3.5 billion years ago (on this planet, we think). nt