IS A FOETUS HUMAN?
Some people prefer to call an unborn baby a "foetus", as its technical name sounds more like a body part than a human being.
However, others argue that a human life begins at conception, making a foetus a separate living being.
So is there a definite answer? As you read the text below, see what you think.
What makes us human?
The scientific community very clearly defines conception as the point at which a new life begins (see here for a list of quotes on this subject from scientific literature).
When the sperm and egg cells are joined together, a new and living organism is formed. It is not just another part of the woman's body - it has its own unique DNA, formed from parts of the mother's and father's DNA, which sets it apart from them both. This may look like just a bunch of cells...but biologically speaking we're all a bunch of cells...and whatever stage of development we're up to, we're still a human being!
Within a few weeks, the baby has it's own heartbeat. If you disagree with the medical view that life begins at conception, you might stop to consider what defines a human life. What do we measure to determine whether someone is alive or dead? Their heartbeat. If the presence of a heartbeat determines that someone is alive, and a baby in the womb has a heartbeat, it is alive!
And if deliberately stopping someone else's heartbeat is killing someone, and abortion involves stopping a heartbeat (often accompanied by dismembering it), what is abortion?
For more information on this topic, please see the following links:
www.swordandspirit.com/library/prolife/writings_prolife/embryo_fetus.html