When does human life begin? Before attempting to answer, for clarity, I included the above State Chart diagram that shows the various stages of human existence and the events that would lead to changes in state. The upper half (‘Secular View’) shows the secular view as informed by science independent of religious belief systems. Within the framework of the discussion that follows, I have demarcated the points at which matters having to do with Contraception, Abortion, Homicide and Desecration are relevant with respect to the various states of human existence. (For example, it is clear from the above that contraception is not abortion because the former occurs before conception.)

When fellow FV-blogger DJB asked me this very same question in his previous post, I warned him that ‘human life’ is a loaded term. What I meant was that the concept is layered with meanings coming from religion, prevailing social values [aka morality], law, politics and available medical technology. As such, the meaning tends to shift.

We can see this more clearly when we talk about determining when human life ends. When medical technology to revive the heart and keep it pumping became available, the law had to modified to redefine death. In the same way, it was previously believed that each sperm cell had within a miniature fully formed individual (homonculus). Now we know that this is not the case. It is also a common tactic during war to consider the enemy (e.g. the MILF ‘lost commands’) to be less than human thereby justifying killing them so even after birth, the concept of human life is not free from redefinition.

Nevertheless, DJB rightly points out that we cannot just leave it at that. Given the pathological dominance of the Catholic Church which has allowed the continued suffering of thousands of women in the name of its belief system, arriving at a secular [aka Church free] definition of human life becomes all the more urgent.

When the sperm fertilizes the egg upon conception, it starts a process of cell division and differentiation which, if successful, eventually results in a human being. So at what point in this process does a human being emerge? Just as ‘brain death’ can be considered the off switch that marks the end of an individual’s life as a human, then the on switch would be when the fetus‘ brain starts becoming active. This is the point at which the fetus becomes an individual in its own right, with its own cognitive functions. (I specified ‘nn’ weeks in the diagram above where ‘nn’ stands for the point at which this generally happens as determined by the scientific & medical community e.g. at 12 weeks.)

What are the public policy implications of this? Beyond this point of brain activation (whether it be 12 weeks into the pregnancy or earlier or later), if there was a need to save the life of a mother, then it can be considered state sanctioned killing of another individual who already possesses his or her own thought processes. It also means that beyond this point, rape or incest can no longer be a justification for terminating the pregnancy. Moreover, even if it is discovered that the fetus has suffered brain damage and is going to have a mental defect, such finding should not be used as a reason to terminate the pregnancy.

Earlier than this point, there is no individual capable of thinking to speak of (apart from the mother, of course).

For completeness sake, I have included in the lower half of the diagram (below ‘Religious Views’) a consolidated view as held by various religions, e.g. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism etc. My own personal belief system happens to coincide with some portions (not all) of the lower half of the diagram. However, while I’m free to hold these beliefs, I recognize that i cannot impose these on others, especially when it comes to matters of public policy in a Secular State.

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