Abortion is such a controversial subject that I feel leery writing about it. When I was a police officer, I was all about the facts-I kept my opinions to myself and gathered all the information available, treated everyone equally and made decisions from there. When I teach I make sure to preface my personal opinions as such, opting to state the facts and letting students form their own opinions. Abortion is such a hot subject that many do not want to walk the tight rope of discussing their opinion about it. In addition, there are those who say a man cannot know what a woman goes through regarding whether to abort or not, and thus, some men keep their mouths tightly zipped.
I try to respect everyone and his or her views. Generally, I have an issue with any person who harms anyone or anything for his or her convenience or selfish betterment. Therefore, with abortion, if doctors who perform them are ceasing the existence of, or killing a living being, I am dead against it. How can I not be? However, if the aborted fetus is not alive, just a bunch of cells forming to become a living being at some point down the line, I can see where someone may look at it differently.
Therefore, it seems to me the six million dollar question is whether the fetus before birth is actually a living "being" or not. If it is, I do not believe the majority of women would abort it. I believe most women who choose an abortion do not believe the fetus is yet a living being. I think most feel they are intervening before the fact. Of course, I may be off mark with my hypotheses; however, I believe it to be accurate.
If my hypothesis is correct, we need to look to science for an answer or better put, the truth. Many religious or Godly minded individuals feel life begins at conception. However, many people feel religious views are out of touch regarding this subject matter and consequently disregard the religious viewpoint. So, let us look to science and its fact based, scientific, unbiased opinion.
Maureen L. Condic, PhD, who is a Senior Fellow at the Westchester Institute for Ethics & the Human Person and Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine wrote an article entitled, When Does Human Life Begin? A Scientific Perspective.
The article gets quite technical and states an unequivocal scientific answer to my question. After explaining detailed, specific scientific facts, she states her answer, and I quote directly "Resolving the question of when human life begins is critical for advancing a reasoned public policy debate over abortion and human embryo research. This article considers the current scientific evidence in human embryology and addresses two central questions concerning the beginning of life: 1) in the course of sperm-egg interaction, when is a new cell formed that is distinct from either sperm or egg? And 2) is this new cell a new human organism-i.e., a new human being? Based on universally accepted scientific criteria, a new cell, the human zygote, comes into existence at the moment of sperm-egg fusion, an event that occurs in less than a second. Upon formation, the zygote immediately initiates a complex sequence of events that establish the molecular conditions required for continued embryonic development. The behavior of the zygote is radically unlike that of either sperm or egg separately and is characteristic of a human organism. Thus, the scientific evidence supports the conclusion that a zygote is a human organism and that the life of a new human being commences at a scientifically well-defined "moment of conception." This conclusion is objective, consistent with the factual evidence, and independent of any specific ethical, moral, political, or religious view of human life or of human embryos."
The article specifically answers the question of when human life begins with scientific certainty. I have not found any evidence to unsubstantiate the articles facts and its conclusion. I believe that science and Faith rightly understood are in service to the truth and in this case, they agree. For me, scientific fact solidifies when life begins, and for me, on how I feel about abortion.
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