One of the many questions debated among the pro-life / pro-abortion is "Does life begin at conception". Many of those supporting abortion tend to downplay the act itself early in the pregnancy based on this issue. If the thing is just an inert mass of cells or tissue, what's the problem? While I believe that life does begin at conception and that most pregancies end in babies if you don't decide to terminate them... I'd like to bring up another point.
If the issue is when does life begin?... and hence when is it ok to terminate a allegedly non-living thing... consider this the following:
According to the Center for Bioethical Reform, 52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 25% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 12% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 4% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy.
It is an indisputable fact that a fetus heart begins beating at 5 weeks. Given this, a minimum of 48% of all abortions happen while a baby's heart is functioning. Isn't this a life? Following this logic, can't we all agree that for nearly half of all abortions, life has begun at 5 weeks and is terminated through the act of abortion. Under this premise, it seems the issue of timing is minimized for the majority of abortions.
