An End to the Debate

I was watching a video clip the other day of Obama giving some answers about when does life begin. He stated that it was something he had not fully formed his opinion on at that time. However, I'd say based on his voting record in Chicago, his opinion was already well formed, but that's not the purpose of this post.

I would say that at some time during my life, I too have felt that "my opinion was not fully formed" as well. I don't remember when exactly, but I'm certain it was before I had my own children. However, after watching that clip, an explanation popped into my head and I felt the need to express it. For me, and I would hope others as well, completely and nicely concludes exactly when life begins - and there is really no more room for logical debate (not that there ever was). A friend pointed out to me that there will always be room for illogical debate, but you can never win with an illogical thinker. 

To begin with, let's think about what is involved with creating life; in this case a human baby. You have to have a sperm cell, and that cell has to fertilize a human egg cell. That product multiples and grows into what will eventually become a baby. It seems a lot of this debate centers around exactly when does that "product" become a lifeform. The question is easier than it has been made out to be. 

Does life begin when the sperm and egg are created? No. Too early.

Does life begin when the heard starts beating? No. Too late.

Does life begin when the baby is born? Heavens no!

Life begins at the precise instant that the egg has been successfully fertilized. There is no question to this, and the fact there's even a "debate" is a bit ridiculous.

Let's look at an analogy. Let's say you're making a sandwich. You have the bread and you have the ham. Is it a sandwich yet? Obviously not. You take a slice of bread, put some ham on it, and then top it off with another piece of bread. Is it a sandwich? Of course it is! It didn't become a sandwich when you ate it, and it wasn't a sandwich before you put the pieces together. 

How about this one: you're in a marathon. All the runners are lined up and the starting signal is given. When did the race start? Obviously, right from when the signal is given. At that exact instant, a process was begun: the process of running the race. As long as there is no outside intervention, the race will continue and will complete. Before the signal, there were just a bunch of runners milling around. If they were never given the signal, they would obviously have never run the race. The process had a definite beginning, middle, and end. 

Just like life. 

If you left the sperm cells alone, nothing would change with them. They can't, on their own, grow into anything. The same goes for an egg. So, naturally, life does not begin with these cells in this state. However, when they are combined and the egg is fertilized, a new entity has been created that will, barring outside influence, grow into a baby. Do you see the distinction? You can't say that life begins anywhere in that line of events after fertilization (heartbeat, brain formed, born, etc.) because those are just different phases in the process. Before there were two cells; after there was something new and completely unique that didn't even exist before.

When that sperm cell fertilizes the egg cell, a process has begun. 

That process...

...is life.

There is really no room for logical debate.