Religioustolerance.Org

a human beings life begains at conception?

The process leading up to the birth of a newborn baby can be divided into many steps:

about 1 month before conception: almost all adult males produce thousands of spermatozoa (male germ cells) each second. It would take about 500 of them lined up in a row to total 1 inch in length.

They take a month or so to travel from a testicle, through a long tube called the "vas deferens," to reach a small reservoir inside the man's prostate gland. Here, semen (a mixture of spermatozoa and various fluids) is formed. Each spermatozoon contains human dna.

They certainly appear to be living organisms. As seen in a microscope, they seem to be moving energetically with the sole motivation of fusing with an ovum. Most people consider them to be a form of human life, because they appear alive and contain human dna.

Strictly speaking, spermatozoon are not alive. Its movements are due to chemical reactions.

Perhaps one day before conception: the woman ovulates and produces one mature ovum (egg cell). It travels down one of her fallopian tubes towards her uterus. It is about 1/100" in diameter, and is barely visible to the naked eye. It also considered by most of the public to be a form of human life, for the above reasons. But it is not actually a living organism. It has been described as an "inert globule of organic matter." it does carry a cargo of human dna.

At conception: one very lucky spermatozoon out of hundreds of millions ejaculated by the man will penetrate the outside layer of the ovum and fertilize it. The surface of the ovum changes its electrical characteristics and prevents additional sperm from entering.

A genetically unique entity is formed shortly thereafter, called a zygote. This is commonly referred to as a "fertilized ovum." however that term is not really valid because the ovum ceases to exist after conception. Half of its 46 chromosomes come from the egg's 23 chromosomes and the other half from the spermatozoon's 23.

It has a unique dna structure, different from that of the ovum and the spermatozoon. The zygote is "...Is biologically alive. It fulfills the four criteria needed to establish biological life:

1. Metabolism,
2. Growth,
3. Reaction to stimuli, and
4. Reproduction."

it can reproduce itself through twinning at any time up to about 14 days after conception; this is how identical twins are caused.

Conception is the point that most, or all, pro-life groups and conservative christians define as the beginning of pregnancy. They also define the start of a human person as occurring at conception. The medical definition of the start of pregnancy is about 10 days later, at implantation.

The zygote divides into two cells, called blastomeres. They subdivide once every 12 to 20 hours as the zygote slowly passes down the fallopian tubes.

Does fetus feel pain

the short answer is yes. At some stage during pregnancy, a fetus becomes capable of feeling pain. But, there appears to be no consensus among experts about the point in the pregnancy when this happens:

many physicians and researchers of fetal development believe that synaptic connections within the fetus' brain are necessary to perceive pain. These are not formed until well into the third trimester, when fewer than 1% of all pregnancy terminations are done.

Others, who tend to be pro-life advocates, believe that a fetus as early as 7 weeks after conception can feel pain. Thus, they believe that a fetus can feel pain part way through the first trimester, when most abortions are performed

it would appear that some of the experts' opinions are so heavily biased by their pro-life/pro-choice stance that they are incapable of making objective observations.

Many women seriously consider this factor when they are deciding whether or not to have an abortion. They are reluctant to submit to an operation that would be painful to the fetus. Women deserve to have precise information on which to base their decision.

Unfortunately, emotional factors seem to intrude in this, as in all other matters related to abortion. Information is very easy to find. But its accuracy is almost impossible to evaluate.

Pain in an adult, child, newborn or late-term fetus originates as an electrical signal in some of the body's pain receptors. This signal is sent via nerve pathways to the spinal column, then to the thalamus - an egg-shaped structure within the brain. Finally the signal is transferred to the cerebral cortex where it is sensed as pain.

In a fetus, the pain receptors develop around 7 weeks after conception; the spino-thalamic system at about 13 weeks. Finally, the connections to the cortex are established about 26 weeks into pregnancy.

Some pro-life advocates believe that pain can be felt by the fetus when these systems are only partly formed. Most pro-choice advocates believe that the complete system has to be "wired up" before the fetus can feel pain - i.E. At about 26 weeks into pregnancy.