...cell, or a fetus, an infant, or an octogenarian. These are all natural stages of human development, but science establishes the beginning of human life at conception. From the moment of conception, a distinct human being is present. Abortion, therefore, kills a developing human being. This is a fact, not a moral or religious assertion. After the birth of a human being, our society has laws in place to protect it from murder. Thus, it would seem that we have chosen birth as the moment after which the laws of murder apply to a human being. If the process of birth is important enough to be the event that bestows on a human being its legal rights, it is entirely logical to ban a procedure that so effectively blurs the legal line between murder and abortion -- between the “born” and the “unborn.” Abortion is murder no matter what kind of laws the Government makes. In 1973 the United States Supreme Court made a decision on the case of Roe vs. Wade, the Court found that a woman had the right to choose whether or not to abort a pregnancy within certain constraints. However, according to the Court if a fetus were a person, abortion would be found impermissible. While this decision made an attempt at establishing a legal precedent, from a moral and religious standpoint, it is wrong. Upon the moment of conception, the human embryo is a person; and as a result, the fetus acquires a soul, making its abortion a sin within the teachings of the Catholic Church. There are many abortions...
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...is permissible at the stake of, arguably, the unborn life of frozen embryos or if stem cell research should cease at the cost of disease stricken people worldwide to preserve an embryo that may never be born. 1. Massage (Articulate) the Problem: a) What is the current undesirable situation? Identify and define issues in the dilemma. The current undesirable situation pertaining to frozen embryo donation is the donor being forced to keep frozen embryos against their own discretion. It may be unfavorable to keep embryos frozen for an extended period of time because of the financial burden. To extract, freeze, and preserve embryos, clients can expect to pay an initial fee of approximately $10,000. According to USCFertility, client can also expect a storage fee of $500 per year and to thaw frozen embryos an additional payment of $5,000 is required (uscfertility.org). Another issue apart of this ethical dilemma is whether embryos are classified as a person or property. If assumed to be property, it is debatable whether preservation of embryos can be mandated. Lastly, and perhaps the most controversial component of this dilemma is defining “conception” to establish when life begins....
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... many more infertile couples around the world can be added to this more than 3 million in the United States. For these couples, in vitro fertilization (IVF) offers new promise. The main argument of in vitro fertilization is to help infertile couples to be able to conceive a child of their through science. IVF separates the unitive and the procreative aspects of marriage thus it is not allowed by the Catholic Church. It is a mortal sin to separate the unitive and the procreative aspects of marriage. In addition the sperm donor commits a mortal sin in order to harvest the sperm which is needed for IVF. Although one human life may be created through the IVF technique, what will happen then to the other fetuses? As we know life begins the moment the egg cell and the sperm cell meets so when one is chosen to be the baby to be conceive the others are discarded many surplus fetuses, (unborn babies), are destroyed through this process. Other surplus unborn babies are left frozen in the laboratories where they...
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...Despite the lack of consensus among the science community and the religious aspects associated such as the ‘at conception theory’ (Butler 2005) and the ensoulment theory (Zindani 2000), the ‘brain life’ theory seems to be the most logical. If we entrust doctors and practising physicians to determine when a life has ended, as expressed by the result of no electroencephalograph (EEG) waves being produced by the brain, or ‘brain death’ (Goldenring 1985), then it is only fitting that doctors and practising physicians should determine when a life has begun by the result of EEG waves being present at the twenty-second to the twenty-fourth weeks of gestation period (Scott 1976). Furthermore, since there has been no scientific evidence to refute this theory, I believe that it is the most viable and logical reasoning to distinguish when a life form is considered...
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...new frontier of medical break through poses an important ethical dilemma for humanity do we support the destruction of embryos to further science or do we support the protection of embryos. We are faced with a critical decision to protect embryos from being a part of a science experiment or do we think that it is ethical to kill a few embryos in the name of science. I will discuss the pros and cons of stem cell research. I will discuss the positive outcomes associated with stem cell research from a medical aspect and the negative outcomes from a biological aspect. I will also argue for stem cell research and against stem cell research. What is Stem Cell Research? Stem cell research is the use of cells retrieved from embryos which are capable of becoming all or many of the 210 different types of tissues in the human body. Stem cells have traditionally been defined as not fully differentiated cells or tissue types. The use of these undifferentiated cells or tissues is used to replicate cells in the human body. These cells are from embryos fertilized between days 5-7 of human development. The cells are then retrieved from the embryo and used by researchers to replenish dying or damaged cells in the body. These cells show great promise to help solve medical illnesses and diseases. The argument we face with this type of research is the use of the embryo to harvest the stem cells from are the cells considered humans or just cells. Argument for and against Stem Cell Research ...
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...Pre-natal Life Cycle Pre-Natal Life Cycle Joss Wilson Health and Nutrition The Pre-natal stage and the beginning of a person’s life begin with conception. Conception is the single handed moment when the sperm fertilizes an egg to create a single cell called a zygote. The zygote will undergo a period of a cell division forming a blastocyst which a ball-shaped collection of cells that implants itself in the uterine wall. After the blastocyst begins to develop rudimentary organs, it is an embryo. At the eight week mark, the organs have finishing developing, and the embryo is considered a fetus. The fetal period is then marked by the development of placenta and organ maturation. The pre-natal stage ends at child birth approximately 38 weeks after conception. Before conception is even considered Nutrition is extremely important. Several factors make adequate nutrition important before conception. The point at which a woman’s ovum (egg) is fertilized with a mans sperm. First, some deficiency-related problems early in the pregnancy, typically before the mother even realizes she’s pregnant. An adequate and varied preconception diet reduces the risk of such problems, providing insurance during those first weeks of life. Here are a few pre-natal power foods that would make up for an excellent diet when it comes to getting the essential nutrients like fiber, foliate, and iron needed for the mother and growing baby. For breakfast drink 8 ounces of pureed figs. Figs are...
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...placed on having children. Everyone, at one point or another, has to face the inevitable question by family or friends: “When are you planning to have kids?” or “Why don’t you have children?” Society views having children as a rite of passage and is a universally shared expectation of individuals. Therefore, naturally it is quiet distressing when one is unable to reproduce by natural means. In today’s contemporary society, man is so used to controlling its world and has devised many ways to overcome the constraints set forth by nature. For example proper family planning often involves the use of contraceptives in order to avoid an unplanned pregnancy, and when people are ready to have a child, they sometimes discover that achieving conception is not as easy as they imagined. According to World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Center of Health Statistics, about 8-10% of all couples in the developed world face reproductive issues1. In the face of such biological and societal pressure, the failure to conceive is devastating news for individuals since they often tend to view themselves as a failure to be ‘fruitful and multiply’.1 In addition, the feeling of physical inadequacy (i.e. feeling like less of a woman or less of a man) that...
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...will give equal protection under the law to all living humans from time of their conception to the time of their natural death, and I fully agree that American needs that amendment. However, I question what kind of society do we live in that we have to ask for that kind of protection to begin with? I do not believe that the government should fund abortions. I do not believe that the government should fund Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion clinic in America. I believe that the violence inside and outside abortion clinics in America is wrong. Abortion is legal in the United States. In 1963, the Supreme Court decided in Roe vs. Wade that a woman can have an abortion in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Almost half of all pregnancies are unplanned and half of those half end up as abortions. The abortion debate has been ongoing for decades in America. Those that oppose abortion stand firm in their belief that they are right. Those that are pro-choice believe that a woman has a right to decide what is best for her. There is very little middle ground when it comes to the debate of abortion. From the moment of conception the embryo is a person. According to Dr. Alfred M. Bongioanni, professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, “Human life begins at the time of conception. I submit that human life is present throughout the entire sequence, from conception to adulthood, and that any interruption at any point throughout this time...
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... pro-life supporters and pro-choice supporters. On the one hand, pro-life supporters, those who think abortion is not right, consider a fertilized human egg a human being from the moment of conception. Therefore, they refer to abortion as murder. On the other hand, the pro-choice supporters, those in favor of abortion, have a different perspective. They believe that a fetus is a human only after birth. The moral difference between these groups encompasses one issue. That is “At what stage is a fertilized egg considered a human being?” According to Peter Singer, there are four general stages that the pro-lifers and the pro-choicers argue about in terms of the standing of a fetus. They are: “birth, viability, quickening and the onset of consciousness” (138). The arguments made by the two groups for and against each of these stages causes the standing of an embryo to be upgraded to that of a child in the long run, as Singer suggests (138). Thus, this paper will examine and analyze the four moral junctures for the status of the fetus -“birth, viability, quickening and the onset of consciousness”- considered by anti-abortionists and pro-abortionists. Birth is the first stage debated by pro-life and pro-choice supporters. Some pro-abortionists believe that an embryo is a human being once it is born and before that time it should not have the same rights to life as a child does. In contrast, Singer credits anti-abortiionists with the idea that,...
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...“pro-life.” Pro-lifers would argue that from the moment of conception, a fetus, or human embryo, is a living person. Abortion deprives this fetus of a chance to live and can be considered murder. The Catholic Church advocates this stance, since we have a moral obligation to preserve all forms of life. Pro-choicers, on the other hand, may feel that the decision to abort a pregnancy is that of the mother and the state has no right to interfere. Actually, about half of the U.S. populations are for abortion and the other half are against it. Clearly, what’s at stake in the issue is the fetus right to life. The actual procedure involved in abortion can be done in a number of ways. As early as the day after having unprotected sexual intercourse, a woman can be given drugs to halt fetal development, such as the “morning after pill.” One of the most common methods of abortion is the vacuum aspiration method. This is usually performed within the first trimester (first three months) of pregnancy. A tube, called a cannula, is simply inserted into the female’s cervix and the contents are vacuumed out. However, when the pregnancy reaches the second trimester (second three months), abortion becomes increasingly complicated. In a procedure called dilation and evacuation, a vacuumed is first used to remove as much of the fetus and placenta as possible, then physicians use forceps to extract the remaining parts. Further, after the human embryo has...
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...How a child develops in the womb. From the moment of conception, rapid cellular division begins and initiates the start of a child's development in the womb. The developing embryo will go through many changes. From the development of organs and bones to eyes, ears, and tiny feet and hands, what once was an egg and sperm will become a child. Fertilization A sperm must locate the mature egg in the fallopian tube. Once the sperm fertilizes the egg, the egg, which is now a blastocyst, will continue to move down the fallopian tube into the uterus. On or about the seventh day, the blastocyst develops chorionic villi, hairlike structures used to absorb nutrients for the growth of the embryo, which enable it to implant into the lining of the uterine wall. According to Biology of Reproduction, the chorionic villi in the placenta function as necessary structures in exchanges between the fetus and mother. Blastocyst The blastocyst will develop into two separate parts. The outer cells develop into the placenta. According to What to Expect, the placenta carries nutrients and oxygen to and waste materials away from the fetus. The inner cells of the blastocyst will form into the embryo. The amniotic sac will form an inner layer of membranes that will fill with amniotic fluids, which will protect the developing embryo for the remainder of the pregnancy. Embryonic The embryonic stage of development is characterized by the formation of the external body structures and internal organs....
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...the Bible, which states that that a fetus, being human, inherently has the right to life. Regardless of the circumstances of the mother or the potential impact on her health. Therefore, I believe that abortion should not be done for the health or benefit of the mother's body. On the other hand, one of the main arguments of Pro-life is that the unborn or the fetus is a human being at conception. Evidence to support this is from aCpeds.org and stating that at the moment of conception, when the sperm and egg bind together here a single hybrid cell called a zygote or one set embryo is created.So I got as genetically distinct in a member of the species homo sapiens. Another argument is that it continues to develop.Is a continuous process that begins when an ovum is fertilized by an egg and ends at death. It is a process of change and growth that transformed as I came with a single cell, into a multicellular adult human being. They also state that at fertilization, the human begins emerging as a whole genetically distinct individual zygotic living human organism. I agree that a baby is formed at conception, not because of scientific evidence, but from the Bible. The second pro life argument is that since all human beings have human rights, the unborn being human should also have human rights.the evidence supporting the pro life is grounded in the belief that an unborn baby is a human being and, as such, should have the inherent right to life.Belief is supported by scientific evidence...
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...them and their religion that they are willing to support people like Donald Trump just because in his campaign he mentions being pro-life. The therefore, in their eyes gives them the right to vote for and support this man in his personal vendetta against the world. Despite the fact that there actually isn’t anything about abortion mentioned in the Bible, christians condemned abortion a grave sin. This is because of christian ethical beliefs laid out in the Bible. Ethics are defined as “a set of moral principles, especially ones relating to or affirming a specified group” which is exactly what the Bible is. The catholic church teaches us that there is a right to life even as a fetus and it must be respected and protected from the moment of conception, even if the mother’s life is in danger. The Catholic Church was quoted: “Abortion represents the killing of an innocent member of the human family, it is immoral, unethical and cannot be justified. There is no such thing as a right to kill innocent people”. Christianity is built on the words of God explained through the Bible. In the Bible, there are ten commandments, one saying “Thou shalt not kill”. This is important to remember because fundamentally this is the root of the Christian ethics which informs their disagreement with abortion. Keeping this in mind the pro life discussion usually is based around the idea that an unborn fetus is a human being, with a beating heart, with a potential for life. Their argument’s usually...
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...only moral, ethical and logical side to maintain in this great debate is the Pro-Life position. The question we all must address first and foremost is, when does life begin? The opinion of when life starts varies from as early as conception to as late as the actual cutting of the umbilical cord, finalizing the infant as an independent agent. The “life” I speak of is essentially that of a “human life,” since a human is the ultimate product of a pregnancy. Though some argue that just because something is living (let’s take an embryo for example) doesn’t make it human simply because it will eventually develop into a human. But let’s put this into perspective. Think of a child watching TV with his Grandpa. Who is more human, the Grandpa or the child? The answer is that they’re both equally human, despite the grandpa being older and more developed as a human. So if age and physical development do not determine the degree of which something is human, then how can we argue that an embryo is not human simply because is it less “developed?” This is where science enters the picture. At fertilization the 23 chromosomes from the father and the 23 chromosomes from the mother combine to create a genetically unique individual known as a zygote. From the moment the zygote is formed it has a unique...
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...the Catholic religion, there are many religious views that one should follow. One of the main religious views throughout the Catholic Church is being against abortion. The Catholic Church opposed all forms of abortion procedures whose direct purpose is to destroy an embryo, blastocyst, zygote or fetus, since it holds that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception”. Catholics are against murder and according to the Ten Commandments, it states “thou shall not murder” and they believe that destroying any type of human life is a huge sin. They believe that God has given precious life to grow inside of a woman and it must not be aborted. In the bible in the book of Jeremiah 1:5, it states, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Souls, 1) From the first moment of the unborn child’s existence, they have their rights as a person and it is wrong to take an innocent persons life. From that bible verse, it proves to Catholics the reason as to why abortion should not be done in all stages. Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo before viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is often called a miscarriage. It can also be purposely caused in which case it is known as an induced abortion. The term abortion most commonly refers to the induced abortion of a human pregnancy...
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