When Does Life Begin?

Justin Taylor provides some clear quotes on the subject from a number of doctors at leading medical institutions. Though it is common to hear that we don’t really know when life begins, the medical answer seems pretty clear.

Contrary to what many believe about the position of many (if not most) Christians on the abortion issue, the case for the pro-life position is largely a scientific case. The theological dimension is the ethic premise, ‘You should not take an innocent human life.” But whether the fetus is a human being, one whose life should be protected as any other innocent human life (by law), is determined by a scientific analysis of the nature of the fetus itself. Rhetoric, whether ‘pro-life’ or ‘pro-choice,’ muddles the issue and generates more heat than light.

For more on this issue, on both the scientific issues involved as well as the moral/theological issues, see: