Introduction:
The life of a baby begins long before he or she is born. A new individual human being begins growing in the mother's uterus at fertilization and, if the baby's life is not interrupted, he or she will someday become an adult man or woman. Worldwide, over 46 million unborn babies are killed each year. In the United States over 39 million unborn babies have been killed since abortion was legalized in 1973 and more than 1.3 million are killed each year.
As the world-renowned French geneticist Jerome LeJeune asserted, "To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a matter of metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence."
The scientific evidence is beyond dispute:
* The unborn baby is alive from the moment of fertilization.
* The unborn baby has a heartbeat at three weeks and brain waves at six weeks.
* The unborn baby is complete. He or she is programmed from the inside for an ongoing process of growth and development.
* The unborn baby has 46 chromosomes in the cells of his or her body - the scientifically verifiable human genetic code.
* The unborn baby from the moment of fertilization is a unique human being - never to be repeated in all of history.
Nothing magic occurs at birth which suddenly makes an unborn baby human. The baby is the same baby, whether inside or outside the uterus. Every unborn baby is a complete, individual living human being from the earliest moment of his or her existence at fertilization.Unfortunately, in the United States it is legal to kill that developing child by abortion for all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. Source: National Right to Life, "When Does Life Begin?" (1993)
Timeline of Development:
To be revised at a later date
Early stages of fetal development:
18 days:
Heart begins to beat (Even today the most common way to determine that someone is dead is probably to check for pulse or heartbeat. So if we say you're dead when your heart stops, shouldn't we say you're alive when your heart starts?)
40 days:
Brain waves can be measured with an Electronencephalogram
(Today we declare someone to be legally dead when his brain waves cease. So if the end of brainwaves marks the legal end of life, perhaps the start of brainwaves should mark the legal start of life?)
2 months:
All body systems functioning
2 months:
Ultrasound has seen babies this age sucking their thumbs
3 months:
Capable of hearing and the child breathes amniotic fluid.
4-5 months:
Baby can kick hard enough for his mother to feel it.
Diary of an Unborn Child:
OCTOBER 5
Today my life began. My parents do not know it yet, I am as small as a seed of an apple, but it is I already. And I am to be a girl. I shall have blond hair and blue eyes. Just about everything is settled though, even the fact that I shall love flowers.
OCTOBER 19
Some say that I am not a real person yet, that only my mother exists. But I am a real person, just as a small crumb of bread is yet truly bread. My mother is. And I am.
OCTOBER 23
My mouth is just beginning to open now. Just think, in a year or so I shall be laughing and later talking. I know what my first word will be: "Mama".
OCTOBER 25
My heart began to beat today all by itself. From now on it shall gently beat for the rest of my life without ever stopping to rest! And after many years it will tire. It will stop, and then I shall die.
NOVEMBER 2
I am growing a bit every day. My arms and legs are beginning to take shape. But I have to wait a long time yet before those little legs will raise me to my mother's arms, before these little arms will be able to gather flowers and embrace my father.
NOVEMBER 12
Tiny fingers are beginning to form on my hands. Funny how small they are! I'll be able to stroke my mother's hair with them.
NOVEMBER 20
It wasn't until today that the doctor told mom that I am living here under her heart. Oh, how happy she must be! Are you happy, mom?
NOVEMBER 25
My mom and dad are probably thinking about a name for me. But they don't even know that I am a little girl. I want to be called Kathy. I am getting so big already.
DECEMBER 10
My hair is growing. It is smooth and bright and shiny. I wonder what kind of hair mom has.
DECEMBER 13
I am just about able to see. It is dark around me. When mom brings me into the world it will be full of sunshine and flowers. But what I want more than anything is to see my mom. How do you look, mom?
DECEMBER 24
I wonder if mom hears the whispering of my heart? Some children come into the world a little sick. But my heart is strong and healthy. It beats so evenly tup-tup tup-tup. You'll have a healthy little daughter, mom!
DECEMBER 28
Today I was aborted.