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=WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?=

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 * Fetal Development: From conception to birth[[image:Rkofertilization2.JPG width="144" height="138" align="right" caption="Fertilization"]]**


 * Day 1:** fertilization: all human chromosomes are present; unique human life begins.


 * [[image:Fig20baby7.jpg width="160" height="251" align="left"]]Day 6:** embryo begins implantation in the uterus.


 * Day 22:** heart begins to beat with the embryo's own blood, often a different type than the mothers'.


 * Week 3:** By the end of third week the backbone, spinal column and nervous system are forming. The liver, kidneys and intestines begin to take shape.


 * Week 4:** By the end of week four the embryo is ten thousand times larger than the fertilized egg.


 * Week 5:** Eyes, legs, and hands begin to develop.


 * Week 6:** Brain waves are detectable; mouth and lips are present; fingernails are forming.


 * Week 7:** Eyelids, and toes form, nose distinct. The embryo is kicking and swimming.


 * Week 8:** Every organ is in place, bones begin to replace cartilage, and fingerprints begin to form. By the 8th week the embryo begins to develop auditory senses.


 * Weeks 9 and 10:** Teeth begin to form, fingernails develop. The embryo can turn his head, frown, and hiccup.


 * Weeks 10 and 11:** The embryo develops its respiratory system and can "breathe" amniotic fluid and urinate. Week 11 the embryo can grasp objects placed in its hand; all organ systems are functioning. The embryo has a skeletal structure, nerves, and circulation.


 * Week 12:** The embryo has all of the parts necessary to experience pain, including nerves, spinal cord, and thalamus. Vocal cords are complete. The baby can suck its thumb.


 * Week 14:** At this age, the heart pumps several quarts of blood through the body every day.


 * Week 15:** The embryo has fully developed taste buds.

l weigh up to half a pound.
 * Month 4:** Bone Marrow is now beginning to form. The heart is pumping 25 quarts of blood a day. By the end of month 4 the embryo will be 8-10 inches in length and wil
 * Week 17:** The baby can have dream (REM) sleep.


 * Week 19:** Babies can routinely be saved at 21 to 22 weeks after fertilization, and sometimes they can be saved even younger.

age at which Partial birth abortions are performed. At 20 weeks the baby recognizes its' mothers voice.
 * Week 20:** The earliest st


 * Months 5 and 6:** The baby practices breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid into its developing lungs. The baby will grasp at the umbilical cord when it feels it. Most mothers feel an increase in movement, kicking, and hiccups from the baby. Oil and sweat glands are now functioning. The baby is now twelve inches long or more, and weighs up to one and a half pounds.


 * Months 7 through 9:** Eyeteeth are present. The baby opens and closes his eyes. The baby is using four of the five senses (vision, hearing, taste, and touch.) He knows the difference between waking and sleeping, and can relate to the moods of the mother. The baby's skin begins to thicken, and a layer of fat is produced and stored beneath the skin. Antibodies are built up, and the baby's heart begins to pump 300 gallons of blood per day. Approximately one week before the birth the baby stops growing, and "drops" usually head down into the pelvic cavity.

Source: [|National Right to Life Committee]

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//"(T)he line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive."// Aristotle

//"Whether or not abortion should be legal turns on the answer to the question of whether and at what point a fetus is a person. This is a question that cannot be answered logically or empirically. The concept of personhood is neither logical nor empirical: It is essentially a religious, or quasi-religious idea, based on one's fundamental (and therefore unverifiable) assumptions about the nature of the world."// Paul Campos, professor of law at the University of Colorado. (2002)

//"The real question today is not when human life begins, but, 'What is the value of human life?' The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother's body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being."// President Ronald Reagan, (1983)

//“Too many people in America believe that if you are pro-choice that means pro-abortion. It doesn't. I don't want abortion. Abortion should be the rarest thing in the world. I am actually personally opposed to abortion. But I don't believe that I have a right to take what is an article of faith to me and legislate it to other people. That's not how it works in America.”// John Kerry

Sex Education Prompts



**IN THIS DEBATE ON THE BEGINNING OF "PERSONHOOD," WHERE DO YOU FIND YOURSELF?**
 * **Life Begins at Conception**
 * **Somewhere In the Middle... I Will Explain**
 * **Life Begins at Birth**
 * **Life Begins at the ripe age of 18**

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