Before we get started with 'deep philosophical questions' it is important that we position some foundations. First, we need to answer the question, “When does human life begin?”. The answer to this question needs to be predetermined because as I have witnessed in my own life and in others’, ambiguity here may very quickly lead to Intellectual Dishonesty in later discussions.
In the most simple of terms, I understand there to be basically 3 points at which one could argue that life begins.
1. The point that the sperm meets the egg.
2. The point that the zygote (the new cell created by the sperm / egg union) implants in the uterus.
3. The point of birth, when the new baby is physically separated from the mother.
I will argue that the point at which the sperm meets the egg is the best place to call the ‘beginning of life’. My reasons are two fold. First, this formation of unique, novel DNA is unlike any other DNA on the planet. There is enough unique DNA in this new cell to separate this new cell from every other collection of cells on the planet. Finally the death of this new cell would terminate the possibility of re-generating an exact duplicate by natural causes (you could probably replicate it with lots of time and a science lab).
Others would argue that implantation is the best point of reference. The two major arguments that I have come across for this position are: (1) After implantation the likely hood of a mother’s inability to carry baby to term decreases, and (2) implantation sparks exponential growth in the zygote. I propose that the quality of exponential cell growth is a poor indicator for initial formation of life because children continue to replicate / generate exponential cell growth through adolescence, post-partum. The former argument is equally poor because it has nothing to do with the zygote itself and everything to do with the mother. We are trying to measure life in the ‘newbie’ not the mother.
Others would argue that birth is the best point of reference for designating the beginning of life. The major argument for this position has been dismantled by ultrasound: the baby does not display emotion, volition, or characterization pre-birth. Another argument states that at this point the baby is no longer obligated to require assistance from the mother; it is autonomous. This is clearly intellectually dishonest because the baby requires milk for feeding (from the mother or formula usually provided by the mother). Without assistance from others (usually the mother) the baby would deplete the intrinsic energy stores and eventually die of starvation.
