Fetus

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Fetus

Simple dictionary definition:

"In humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth, as distinguished from the earlier embryo."

Fetus is a word we use to describe a stage of growth, like blastocyst, embryo, toddler, infant or adult.

In humans, the argument is over whether or not a fetus or any other stage of growth inside a woman is a human being. This is easily answered.

When sperm meets egg life is created.

There is no denying that fact. No intelligent person can argue that simple point, what they argue is whether or not that life is a human being and also if a person is able to live outside the womb without medical support. This of course is a strange argument since they cannot answer what else a fetus might become if not a human being.

The best way to make the case for "personhood" is to stick strictly with facts and science. First we look at DNA:

"A nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell and is capable of self-replication and synthesis of RNA. DNA consists of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and joined by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine. The sequence of nucleotides determines individual hereditary
characteristics."

Okay, so I don't even know what a couple of those words are, but I don't have to. I only have to know the last 4 words of the last sentence:

"determines individual hereditary characteristics"

This is why DNA is so effective at catching criminals. If you have one strand of hair or one drop of blood you can tell who that person is by a DNA test. This method is also used to identify bodies when they are not recognizable. If you have your own unique DNA at the moment of conception, you are a unique human being that is separate from everyone else, and you are 100% a human being and can never become anything else, like a frog or a horse. Even if you are a twin you have your own unique DNA.

The "Right to Privacy" ruling of Roe vs Wade had many convoluted points to it and was a bunch of nonsense put together by lawyers to make legal the killing of a human being in the womb.

One thing it was based on was the assumption that what was inside a woman's womb was not a unique person, that "it" was not a human being yet because "it" hadn't yet formed into one. They established a loose guideline of when a person is "viable", able to live outside the womb of a woman. It was interesting they used that guideline because in essence they were admitting
that the discussion was about a person. To admit what is inside the womb of a pregnant woman is a person is to say that abortion should not be allowed under the Fourteenth Amendment.

http://www.abortioninfo.net/facts/legality1.shtml

"The State shall not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law." --Fourteenth Amendment

The Roe vs Wade ruling was revisited, sort of, in a case in 1992. The following is from

issues2000.org

Justice Rehnquist wrote the dissent on PLANNED PARENTHOOD v. CASEY on Jun 29, 1992:

At issue are five provisions of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982:

1.. requiring a 24-hour "informed consent" waiting period before the abortion is performed;
2.. mandating the consent of one parent for a minor to obtain an abortion, with a judicial bypass procedure;
3.. requiring notification of the husband;
4.. defining a "medical emergency" that will excuse compliance with the foregoing requirements;
5.. imposing reporting requirements on facilities providing abortion services.

Held:

(Written by O'Connor, Kennedy, and Souter; joined in part by Stevens and Blackmun)
Liberty finds no refuge in a jurisprudence of doubt. Yet, 19 years after our holding that the Constitution protects a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy in its early stages, Roe v. Wade (1973), that definition of liberty is still questioned.

We are led to conclude this: the essential holding of Roe v. Wade should be retained and once again reaffirmed, in three parts:

1.. The right of the woman to choose to have an abortion before viability.
2.. The State may restrict abortions after fetal viability if the law contains exceptions for pregnancies which endanger the woman's health.
3.. The State has legitimate interests from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and the life of the fetus that may become a child.

Dissent:

(Rehnquist, joined in part by White, Scalia, and Thomas) The joint opinion, following its newly minted variation on stare decisis, retains the outer shell of Roe v. Wade, but beats a wholesale retreat from the substance of that case. We believe that Roe was wrongly decided, and that it can and should be overruled consistently with our traditional approach to stare decisis in constitutional cases. We would adopt the approach of the plurality in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989), and uphold the challenged provisions of the Pennsylvania statute in their entirety.

Let's not look at the dissent, let's just focus on the "Held" part of this ruling. It is obvious that we have now accepted that a person is the topic of conversation. There is no doubt a fetus is a human being, what is being questioned is whether or not a unique individual in a woman's womb has a right to exist.

> Part one says a woman has a right to kill the child any time before the child is able to stay alive through medical means, outside of the womb.
> Part two says a woman has a right to kill the child any time after that if it can be proven that the child will endanger her life if he/she continues to live in the womb.
> Part three says both the woman and the child should be protected by the state, except they add the part "may become a child", as if he/she would "become" anything else. Perhaps a frog?

The argument of when life begins is over. It's time to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment and stop killing children in the womb!

To sum it all up:

1) Sperm fertilizes egg - The human life cycle has begun
2) A person with his/her own unique DNA grows inside the womb of a woman and goes through various stages of growth, like embryo and fetus
3) A woman gives birth to a baby - A unique human being. One of God's children

Join us in the Monthly Call for Life at http://www.marchtogether.com. Your voice will make a difference in helping to stop abortion in America. Over 1 million Americans are killed by abortion every year. Everything you need to know and do is on the site. Don't sit in silence anymore.

Even if you are already involved in a proLife effort, we still need your voice and
keyboard.

Do your part to help.

Peter
http://www.marchtogether.com