For sure. So when does the magic conversion from some other species to human happen? How many weeks?
How does an infant magically become an adult? If something or someone possesses certain attributes and properties then it's reasonable to identify that thing or person with whatever those qualities are determined to define. If society determines that to be an adult one must be 18 years old, then we should be at least that age and if there are other qualifying qualities, we must meet those qualifications to be considered adults. Who determines in our society when one is an adult? Society, the community, determines through its values and culture, what something is and isn't. We define and label things as individuals and as a community, in order to facilitate constructive interaction and relationships in the world that contribute to our survival and wellbeing.
So when does a zygote become an embryo and when does an embryo become a fetus and when does a fetus in the womb become a human being or baby in the womb? That's up to people to decide (i.e. society). I'm not for women willy-nilly getting an abortion eight months gestation, that's wrong, if not outright murder. If what is in her stomach is viable, healthy, and able to live outside of the womb with a little help from society, then I see it as immoral, if not a crime for a woman to kill an eight-month fetus. We still call it a fetus, even when it's been eight months in the womb, but that's in my opinion and in the opinion of most health professionals, a pre-natal human being with a brain, most likely with a degree of consciousness and the ability to experience pain. So I would be against such abortions. Why didn't she get an abortion earlier, why now eight months into gestation? Just because she feels like it? No, I'm against those types of abortions. 93% of all abortions occur before 15 weeks. The remaining abortions occur due to medical reasons, with the exception of 1% of late-term abortions. So-called "willy-nilly" late-term abortions are practically unheard of. It occurs, but it's extremely rare.
So when do we determine that a fetus is a pre-natal human being (a.k.a. baby)? That's up to society to decide. I believe viability is part of it, the ability of what is in the womb to survive outside of it, without the woman. I also would add a brain and a few other properties with that, including the amount of time in the womb. Society can come to a reasonable definition of what constitutes a pre-natal baby. I'm for that. but what I'm not for is pre-tending that a zygote or embryo or even a fetus in the earliest stages of development has rights comparable to that of an actual human being, namely, the woman that conceived it. I prioritize, at the beginning of pregnancy, the rights, needs, and interests of the woman (the actual human being), not what she has in her womb (i.e. body). She has sovereignty over her pregnancy, her reproductive system, and her body, early in the pregnancy. The more that the life in her womb develops into a human being, the less sovereignty she has to determine the course of her pregnancy.
Conservatives, especially the religious ones, completely disregard the needs and interests of the pregnant female. For them, it's all about the life in her womb, not the life of the woman. She's the human being that is pregnant and many of these religious conservatives completely dismiss the woman's concerns. Women can lose their jobs, their ability to support themselves financially, when they're pregnant. These same conservatives passionately argue for the rights of fetuses (they're the champions of fetuses), showing so much concern for pre-natal life, but then express that they have no responsibility for what is born from that pregnancy. The mother must bear the cost of pregnancy and the expense of raising her child, alone.
Where is the same love and concern that conservatives so vocally and passionately expressed for the zygote, embryo or fetus, for the baby and his or her mother? These conservatives vote for Republican politicians that often defund government social programs that help single mothers raise their children. These programs provide housing assistance, foodstamps, job training, employment opportunities, daycare vouchers, school lunches, after-school care, school supplies and clothing for the children..etc. Why are these "born again" and "spirit filled" Pentecostals and Southern Baptists, FOX News conservatives, so passionately championing, supporting and defending the lives of zygotes, embryos and fetuses, yet showing so much contempt and flippant disregard for the needs of single mothers and their babies? This is not the spirit of YHWH or His Son, these "Christian" conservatives are not the true disciples of Jesus Christ. The Living God cares not just for fetuses, but for the women and their babies as well. They're hypocrites.
When I was younger and homeless, the Christian homeless shelters would only provide me with the help that I needed to get back on my feet, if I joined the Christian discipleship program. I wasn't interested at the time in religion or spirituality. I had to sign in for my bed at the shelter by 5pm, so that meant I had to be standing in line for at least 30 minutes before that. How is a homeless person suppose to find a job, if they have to be back at the shelter by 4:30pm? There was poor security in the shelters, people using drugs and playing music all night. People coughing on you with TB, farting, stinky feet..etc. That's the solution to homelessness in America? These supposed Christians claim the church should run all of the social programs. That doesn't work. The so called "church", has way too many people worshiping money and the "good life" in this world. They're spiritually dead and unable to solve these social ills. They don't obey The Son of The Living God. They're not filled with the Holy Ghost and Power. The VA got me out of homelessness. The US federal government, not the "church" (i.e. circus).
We need our government to serve the people, and that includes single mothers and their babies. Don't pretend to care about zygotes and embryos when you're so indifferent to the needs of single mothers and their children.
