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When does life begin? One of the candidates for president tells us life begins at first breath and used the Bible as his proof text. This means a woman can get an abortion up to the time of and even during delivery. We have the Bible as a proof text also and it certainly does not teach this. First we should look at this logically. A baby develops and grows. Only living things grow. It moves in the womb, again only living things move on their own. A baby in fetus stage intakes food from the mother, it breathes, all which are essential for life. The umbilical cord is connected to the placenta and the mother's blood comes via the placenta through the umbilical cord to the baby. The baby receives Oxygen and nutrients from the mother's blood are transferred across the placenta to the fetus through the umbilical cord. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=90&ContentID=P02362 https://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/blood-circulation-fetus-and-newborn It is possible for the mother to die while the fetus lives, therefore they are separate. In fact, doctors have operated on babies in the womb and have seen them react, showing they feel pain. This Scripture refers to the fetus before birth. Psalm 139:13-16: “For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works, Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” God is referring to the embryo. (Isa. 44:24) We read John the baptizer was filled with the Holy Spirit before his birth, which means he was alive. According to the Bible Luke 1:15 “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.” Luke 1:41-42 “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” As Jesus himself said God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Mt. 22:32) This is applied to the resurrection and to conception. John in the womb was alive. No one should be ignorant on this, especially Christians who believe God is the giver of life. The egg in the woman is generated to life, otherwise there is no development. From fertilization a new organism is alive (has human DNA) and continues to grow and develop as long as nutrition is provided. Around eight weeks the baby's cartilage skeleton begins to turn into bone, something that cannot occur unless it is alive. See https://www.spuc.org.uk/abortion/human-development-of-the-unborn-child The mother breathes for the fetus in the womb, and the oxygen is passed to the fetus through the umbilical cord. The fetus does make breathing-like movements, as the developing fetus depends on food from the mother so it does breathing. The fetus practices breathing when he occasionally inhales and exhales amniotic fluid near the end of the pregnancy. Breathing practice prepares the fetus to breathe quickly and effectively after its birth. The baby breathing on his own, inhaling and exhaling as his lungs inflate and the amniotic fluid drains away, more blood flows to his lungs and blood vessels as oxygen moves through the body and carbon dioxide is then expelled. The church should not be ignorant on science and Scripture, too many today many still believe the baby is not alive until it breathes outside the womb. Unless life begins before birth, at conception, then abortion is not the taking of human life. |
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