Life when does it begin and when does it end?At what stage does life begin?
One of the possible basic requirements for personhood is individuality, which entails differentiation between the person and its parents. Biology offers a number of stages in the life cycle that have been seen as candidates for personhood:
5-8 weeks Premature baby likely to survive? 25 + weeks When is the most common time to have an abortion 9-13 weeks When is the latest that it is legal to have an abortion? 20-25 weeks maybe later if defects What does the Bible say? Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. Psalm 139:13-14 13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a] Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. National Background and Context Abortion is a common experience: At current rates, about one in three American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45. Moreover, a broad cross section of U.S. women have abortions. 58% of women having abortions are in their 20s; 61% have one or more children; 85% are unmarried; 69% are economically disadvantaged; and 73% report a religious affiliation. No racial or ethnic group makes up a majority: 36% of women obtaining abortions are white non-Hispanic, 30% are black non-Hispanic, 25% are Hispanic and 9% are of other racial backgrounds.
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From Pearl …When I got an abortion, I wasn't thinking of myself. I was thinking of my child. I knew it would be better to wait until I'm older. That way I can give it everything it needs in life. It's not that women are murderers. It's mothers protecting their young. It's a mother's instinct. It's a mother's love. I was doing what I thought would be safer for my child and for me. It was hard, when I went home I cried. But I know that she or he is a little angel and heaven is a much better place to be. Anyway, they will come down when we both are ready. My outlook on abortion is completely different now. It's amazing how when it happens to you, everything changes. This was a experience that I'm not glad I went through, but I am blessed for it.
--April 2011 Cedar Rivers Clinics |
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A few premature baby facts
- Premature birth is defined as birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
- Every year in America, more than 500,000 babies are born early, from about 4,500,000 births
- About 1,400 premature babies are born each day in the USA - about 1 in 9
- About 60,000 births, out of 700,000 in the UK each year, are premature births.
- About 160 premature babies are born each day in the UK - about 1 in 11
- The UK baby, Aaliyah Hart, born in Birmingham on May 27, 2003, weighed just 12oz.
- Babies born at 23 weeks have about 17% chance of survival
- Babies born at 24 weeks have about 36% chance of survival
- Babies born at 25 weeks have about 50% chance of survival
- Babies born at 26 weeks have about 80% chance of survival
- From 32 weeks onwards, most babies are able to survive with the help of medical technology
- About 50 per cent of premature babies suffer health problems.