OpEdNews » Human Life Begins At The First Heartbeat, During The Third Week After Conception.

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Tag(s): Abortion; Abortion; Birth Control-Rxs; Christianity; Health Care Reproductive; Religion; Religion Other; Women Issues Pregnancy
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August 18, 2006 at 12:07:35

Human Life Begins At The First Heartbeat, During The Third Week After Conception.

by Rev. Bill McGinnis Page 2 of 3 page(s)

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The Bible Also Teaches Us That "Life Is In The Blood."

"But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood
thereof, shall ye not eat." (Genesis 9:4 KJV)

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have
given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for
your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement
for the soul." (Leviticus 17:11 KJV)

"For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for
the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of
Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for
the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth
it shall be cut off." (Leviticus 17:14 KJV)

"Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood
is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh."
(Deuteronomy 12:23 KJV)

This means that human life does not begin until blood is present in the embryo.

Therefore, Life (As The Bible Understands It) Cannot Begin At The Moment Of Conception, Because There Is No Blood Or Heartbeat Present Until Sometime During The Third Week Of Pregnancy.

Here is the early timeline of fetal development, from Pro-Life America, an anti-abortion organization. It shows that the first heartbeat occurs at the eighteenth day after conception, and that blood is pumped at the twenty-first day.

Day 1 - conception takes place.
7 days - tiny human implants in mother's uterus.
10 days - mother's menses stop.
18 days - heart begins to beat.
21 days - pumps own blood through separate closed circulatory system
with own blood type.
28 days - eye, ear and respiratory system begin to form.
42 days - brain waves recorded, skeleton complete, reflexes present.
7 weeks - photo of thumbsucking.

Source: http://www.prolife.com/fetaldev.html

THEREFORE the Bible does not prohibit terminating pregnancy before the first heartbeat, during the third week after conception. Thus the so-called "morning-after pill" and other soon-after-conception methods of birth control are not prohibited by the Bible.

# # #

Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director - LoveAllPeople.org

http:// www.loveallpeople.org

HTML page at http://www.loveallpeople.org/pearl-firstheartbeat.html

1 | 2 | 3

http://www.LoveAllPeople.org

Rev. Bill McGinnis is an Internet Christian minister, writer and publisher. He is Director of LoveAllPeople.org, a small private think tank in Alexandria, Virginia, and all of its related websites, including InternetChurchOfChrist.org,CommitteeForTheGoldenRule.org,CivicAmerican.com, and AmericanDemocrat.net. His agenda is to help maximize the happiness and well-being of all people. His blog is located at http://blog.myspace.com/revbillmcginnis

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2 comments

STOP THE INSANITY.....IMPEACH NOW! (before Dubya Gump does anymore damage, such as, helping co-ordinate Israel's bombing of Iran's nuclear reactor which will lead to a war with Russia and China)
*I like posting on OpEdNews.Com because is one of the few websites that let's me speak about REALITY without trying to make me be "PC" because political correctness is EVIL!
"Living is everything death is nothing"-Ben Marble, M.D.
BenMarbleMDSTOP THE INSANITY.....IMPEACH NOW! (before Dubya Gump does anymore damage, such as, helping co-ordinate Israel's bombing of Iran's nuclear reactor which will lead to a war with Russia and China)
*I like posting on OpEdNews.Com because is one of the few websites that let's me speak about REALITY without trying to make me be "PC" because political correctness is EVIL!
"Living is everything death is nothing"-Ben Marble, M.D.

Well

I appreciate the attempt at a viewpoint other than the standard "Christian" rhetoric on this topic. The reality is that 'life' merely continues as one cell which is alive (sperm) combines with another cell which is alive (egg) to form the embryo i.e. life doesn't 'begin'. I personally feel that "human life" begins with NEUROLOGIC activity(somewhere between 8-10 weeks) and ends with the absence of the same i.e. brain death.

by BenMarbleMD (22 articles, 0 quicklinks, 203 diaries, 297 comments) on Friday, August 18, 2006 at 4:17:10 PM

Curt Day is a religious flaming fundamentalist and a political extreme moderate. Curt's blogs are at http://flamingfundamentalist.blogspot.com/ and http://extrememoderate.blogtownhall.com
Curt DayCurt Day is a religious flaming fundamentalist and a political extreme moderate. Curt's blogs are at http://flamingfundamentalist.blogspot.com/ and http://extrememoderate.blogtownhall.com

When human life begins depends on your definition

To say that human life does not begin until there is the presence of blood seems to contradict what the Bible says in Genesis. Adam, who, according to the Genesis account, did not become a "living soul" until God breathed the breath of life in him.

IMO, when human life begins cannot be biblically determined by scriptures that talk about life in different contexts. According to the scripture you cited, the life is in the blood does not necessarily make it human life, but just life. And the mention of blood wasn't there to talk about when life begins in the womb. The contexts between when life begins in the womb and what you cited in the Bible are too different to apply one to the other.

We know that from conception, scientifically speaking, we have a separate and distinct though biologically dependent life form. Whether we want to call that human life depends on the definitions we choose to employ. But we must be aware that there are tradeoffs in the criteria we choose to define human life.

Certainly we need to discuss this subject with the upmost respect especially for those with whom we disagree. I would add to this discussion that the abortion issue has multiple parts. It has a concern with what possibly, depending on the definitions we employ, is human life. It has a concern with the rights of the mother. We cannot eliminate or diminish either concern in discussing abortion. And at the same time, we must be aware of all the implications that come with the definition of human life we select to use in this discussion. Personally, I think human life starts at conception. I think that the context of the scriptures that talk about the life being in the blood means that it is problematic to apply these scriptures in Biblically defining human life in the womb.

by Curt Day (41 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 40 comments) on Saturday, August 19, 2006 at 11:44:43 AM