I would like everyone's opinion on when they think a human life begins and why they hold that position.

Thank you all.

You'll get some clarification questions such as "do you include 'sentience' in your definition of 'life' or is it just the simple biological definition of something living because it's attached to a host, such as a toenail which is living in the sense that it's growing because it's attached to a host?"

__________________
Blowhards-R-Us

When does a human life begin?

At about 25 or 30.

__________________
"Some men eventually stumble over the truth but they usually pick themselves up and walk on as if nothing ever happened."
-Winston Churchill

"But though there is no difference in this respect between the best demagogue and the worst, both of them having to present their cases equally in terms of melodrama, there is all the difference in the world between the statesman who is humbugging the people into allowing him to do the will of God, in whatever disguise it may come to him, and one who is humbugging them into furthering his personal ambition and the commercial interests of the plutocrats who own the newspapers and support him on reciprocal terms."
-George Bernard Shaw

Why? What is the relevance? If we define the beginning as when cells first divide then the end would be when cells stop dividing yet hair and fingernails can divide and grow long after one has been planted in the ground. So when my family buried my mother was she alive?

The initial beginning isn't important anymore than the final ending so why fixate on the question...

It is in reference to the abortion issue. Those who consider abortion murder say life begins at conception. Its defenders give a different explanation.

Only for you late bloomers.

Human life begins at conception when a complete set of DNA comprises a new and distinct human. Any other definition of when human life begins is purely arbitrary and certainly not backed by science.

At birth.

__________________

I know what the reference is to and it is a fallacy; the right to life does not usurp other rights. So again, why is the beginning anymore important then the ending?

That's a lot better than Barry, he doesn't even concede that point.

I didn't say it's more important than the ending, although the same question can be asked about the ending.

When do I think that life begins, as in a whole human being is formed? Approximately 40 days after conception. Why do I believe that? Because of what I'd learned from some very good Torah scholars. According to what they were teaching, God carves a piece of Himself out from under His Throne, with the blade of self-will. Once that happens, He puts it into an embryo, and now the body has a soul. According to them, it takes around 40 days for the whole process.

Incidentally, Jesus referred to that in a round about way when He told His disciples that "the Kingdom of God is within", because He was referring to the piece of God within Himself when He said that. What He was basically talking about was His soul.

__________________
Everyone has a right to their own opinion? Bullshit, everyone has a right to their own INFORMED opinion. - Harlan Ellison

You can measure the patriotism of a citizen, not by how much they shout in support of their country, but rather by how much they KNOW about their country.

Where is the fine line between choice and murder?

Human life begins when the fetus, separate from the host biological system, is able to sustain life.

If you do not have a uterus , You don't get to answer that question....Elvis