When Does Human Life Begin?

When Does Human Life Begin?

It is often said that one of the biggest controversies all over the world is abortion. According to the 2012 Merriam-Webster dictionary, an Encyclopedia Britannica Company, abortion is “the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus as a spontaneous expulsion of a human fetus during the first 12 weeks of gestation --miscarriage, the induced expulsion of a human fetus, or the expulsion of a fetus by a domestic animal often due to infection at any time before completion of pregnancy.” Abortion will always be a controversial topic that everyone will not agree on. One of the many divergent views is when the human life begins. There are two groups that have emerged during this controversial, the pro-choice and the pro-life. The pro-choice are the people who are in favor of abortion, whereas, pro-life is against it.

Many people believe that the fetus is considered alive when it can sustain life on its own. That would be a belief of the pro-choice supporter. In other words, the fetus is still just a cell, and if a mother decides to get an abortion, that would be acceptable. The pro-choice supporters are surely right about abortion being permissible because as they may not be aware, recent studies have shown that there are three thousand two hundred and twenty two abortions per day in the United States. (Pro Life Action League) Obviously, a lot of mothers are willing to give up their child, so it should be allowed. A mother has a choice to do what she wants with her body, and it should not concern anyone else. Though I concede that mothers are getting abortions all over, I still insist that they ponder on what guilt they will live with, for the rest of their lives.

In contrast, even though abortion became legal in 1973, people are still going to be against it. Pro-life supporters are opposed to abortions because they believe that the human life begins at conception. Many professors, physicians, biologists, and scientists have agreed that human life begins at conception. In fact, in Randy Alcorn’s article, “Scientists Attest To Life Beginning at Conception”, Dr. Jerome LeJeune, professor of genetics at the University of Descartes in Paris claims that, “after fertilization has taken place, a new human being has come into being.” To put it another way, human beings are produced from union of two preexisting cells, sperm and egg. Meaning that, if a mother chose to get an abortion, that is considered murder. In addition, Professor Micheline Matthews-Roth at Harvard University Medical School adds that, “It is incorrect to say that biological data cannot be decisive…It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception.” As both professors agree that human life begins at conception, I agree as well. I believe that everyone