Emergence of humanity
 

This is a bit of a feeler thread to scope out the sentiments on the board. When do you believe a human life begins?

Some time after initial brain waves and before birth.

When the developing fetus can support life independently of the mother. (Third trimester?)

Onset of neocortical brain activity (about the same time as viability)

I would say first genetically unique cell . No one could be the person they are without that first cell . It is the beginning of a human life .

I'm with Peter Singer. I don't think they're human until 2 years old, when they become rational free agents. Anytime prior to that, do whatever you want to them.

Rational free agents at 2 ? That must be something to do with all that early learning they do in America . The British start becoming rational free agents when they are knocking on for fifty .

As soon as it is a zygote.

Now you have condemned fertility clincs as mass murders. Now you have condemned surgeons as mass murders. Anyone who would kill a living human cell, even a cancer cell, is a murder?

I agree.

I went for first genetically unique cell. And yes, tw, I think that abortion clinics are killing children ... the problem I have with abortion is not that it is done, but that the process is cloaked in all kinds of semantic nonsense about fetus, not baby, tissue, not clump of actual living cells, etc. etc. The marketing of abortion is what I abhor. Understand what you are really doing, and make you choices based on that.

Weighing the alternatives of safe and legal vs. available either at great risk or only to the wealthy as existed before the 1970s, until there is some better alternative, I'll stick with safe and legal ... you can't reflower that particular virgin.

wolf - tw didn't say abortion clinics.

Driver's license. :cool:

But the same medical terminology is used (by the doctors anyway) when you plan to keep the baby.

edit: I don't have an answer to the question.... I don't think it matters.

I am not in the scientific or medical field, but for some reason, it makes the most sense to me that the first genetically unique cell is a precursor to human life. I don't believe that it is full-on human life. As for the actual question, when do I believe human life begins...I don't know.