contemplating life

This anniversary of Roe vs. Wade I find myself analysing the definition of life. I feel that is really close to the heart of the issue of abortion. Having majored in Microbiology in college, this question about what defines life is pretty familiar to me. I mean, are viruses really alive simply because at some point they are able to reproduce themselves? I mean, a little bit of DNA and protein doesn't constitute life does it? And so the debate continues. Thinking about my own children, I remember the first time I acknowledged their life. That 7 week ultrasound where we saw baby's heart beating. Just a little flicker on the screen, Life! With our second baby, I found out I was pregnant and at our first appointment with the midwife we were listening to baby's heartbeat on the doppler, at 9 weeks! Amazing! I can't imagine life without either of these guys.
Statistics show that about 40% of abortions take place after 9 weeks gestation. I'm shocked by this! Obviously, I associate a baby's heartbeat with their life, it's just such a powerful thing as a pregnant mommy to hear that heartbeat and know the baby is growing and alive, and 40% of abortions are performed after the stage in pregnancy that I was aware of both my babies' heartbeats. (This number comes from wikipidia and CDC.org)
According to the records, the number of legal abortions in the United states is decreasing every year. With all the medical advancement, the internet (Baby Center:), I think a lot of people acknowledge and respect human life, even in-vitro. I am praying for the women contemplating abortion today. I pray that God would give them peace and safety and hope. And that the life of their baby would be spared.

Comments

Unknown said…
As a microbiologist maybe you could speak to this in a meaningful way. I've kind of always thought that at the moment of conception or maybe a few hours after when the gametes of the sperm and egg come together and the DNA goes through recombination isn't it fair to say that a unique individual set of DNA has been created and therefore a new human life? Maybe my logic and science are flawed but I feel like that our DNA signature is what truly defines us and well, makes us who we are. So wouldn't it be fair to say that creating new cells with a unique DNA signature you have in fact created a new being. A new being that has a right to existence which superseds that right of the mother to make a "choice" with her body?
January 22, 2013 at 6:17 PM
Amanda said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
January 24, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Amanda said…
I would agree with that concept of life. However, from the bioethics standpoint that gets tricky, because then all the embryos created for in-vitro would have to be life as well. That's a hard one for people to agree on. I mean, they are not even implanted in a mother's womb yet, you know? So the issue is very complex about when life actually begins. Is having a unique set of healthy and duplicating DNA life? It's good to think about. Thanks for entering the conversation, Paul!
January 24, 2013 at 11:15 AM
Unknown said…
hI never thought about that before and that does make for an tricky ethical situation for sure, but still(and maybe I'm just thinking too simplistically)are not the embryos essentially human even though they are not in the mother? I guess my thinking is that the embryo, fetus, etc are just stages of human development like infancy or any other stage of childhood development. I think the argument could be made that a child is just as dependent upon their parents throughout most of childhood as they are in utero.
January 29, 2013 at 2:38 PM
Amanda said…
I wouldn't say you are thinking too simplistically, but maybe you are speaking from experience. It is so much harder to accept truths like the fact that embryos are real human babies (even when created in a test tube) when you've never experienced it. I mean, we have to understand where people are coming from a little bit too. A verse that we were discussing in Bible study this week is Matt 10:16. Jesus tells his disciples they need to be wise as serpents and gentle (innocent) as doves. I think that as a church we need to remember not to bulldoze others with the truth. Especially when it comes to abortion. I remember a conversation with a friend I had about 4 years ago. She was so strong about women's right to choose at the beginnig and after our chat, she acknowledged that the embryo represented life and she wasn't so sure. As long as we keep lines of communication open, I believe that many lives could be saved.!! Thanks for the convo, Paul. miss you guys!
February 11, 2013 at 2:05 PM
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