How We *KNOW* Life Starts at Conception

Stephanie Gray lays down the science supporting the long standing Catholic tenant that life begins at conception.

[MacBjorn]

Hard to believe we have to say that we are Human.

[TheGoodkarm]

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help!
❤❤❤JMJ

[hoosierflatty]

Been common sense to me ever since I learned about the birds and bees.

[Ahomesteadersdream]

Great job defending life Stephanie! Thanks for posting @pintswithaquinas

[carlosux]

in school you learn this and honestly what led me to understand why its not just a collection of cells. nothing in biology can explain how this process continues.

[darcymr]

When life starts is irrelevant. Nobody has the right to exploit someone else's body against their will, even if their life depends on it.

[quiricomazarin]

Actually identical twins are distinct & not the same. They have different souls & although do think alike alot...have their own separate minds & wills.

Just to correct the lady narrator who missed that part as humans are composite beings ( body & soul)!

[timmcvicker]

Life in fact begins at conception. But it ends at school.

[barneyleseven]

Would you call a caterpillar a butterfly? On the inside, a caterpillar that turns into a butterfly is exactly the same genetically. But they are two different things a caterpillar is not a butterfly. Kind like a fetus is not a child.

[pong]

This is why every cell of Henrietta Lacks is precious.

[johnhorse]

Quick question. What do you mean by life? Sperm and egg act independently until the embryo process starts. The actual estimated time that it takes for the sperm to travel to the egg and fertilize is around six days after intercourse. Once it becomes fertilized, the egg will attach itself to the uterine wall, which can take anywhere between six and ten days

[jessicareid]

Does the life of another override an individual's right to bodily autonomy? I, personally, think not. If someone needed one of my kidneys to live, they would have no right to them, nor should I have the responsibility to pay for the surgery, take time off work to recover, etc. Many of the comments I'm seeing here simplify the pregnancy narrative to, "it happens because a woman chose to have sex, so she must deal with the consequences." This is cruel and ignoring many circumstances where that wasn't the case. And even then, if the pregnancy is the result of a happy couple coming together and expressing their affection in the most intimate way us humans are capable, if that couple is not prepared for or wanting a child, it is cruel to force a child to be brought into an environment where they are unwanted or unprovided for. In my opinion, suffering is a greater cruelty than never knowing life. That is why the right to abortion is a blessing, and necessary in our society.

[jimisoulman]

I think there is a qualitative difference between the fertilised egg and the foetus just prior to birth. There is a gradation of human development. When do you suppose the human soul enters the embryo? At fertilisation? The potential for a human life is there. It is not yet actualised

[minasoliman]

I think the debate of when life starts is more nuanced than fertilization given twinning and mosaicism in genetics. In addition, if one can actually clone human cells, that makes the idea of fertilization as the moment of “life” further questionable. I think there’s something to be said of Aquinas’s belief of 40 days. I would think once can safely at least say at implantation is when one can say I shouldn’t kill this human. I recommend Francis Collin’s book “the language of God” for a good appendix of these questions.

[brendamyc]

At the moment of sperm egg fusion there is a spark. Yes, the Divine Spark. It takes three to love, man, woman, and God. That is participating in the creative action of God. Any violation against it is a sin against the Holy Spirit, the Lord the Giver of Life.

[maytag]

So if life begins at conception then that is a deduction on income taxes?

[teresad]

I love her! I used to go to church with her mother.

[susanmoore]

Thank you for this. This is not fake news!!

[gabrieldacruz]

Please keep telling this to those foolish people that telling you you're not human until you come out of the birth canal and now we have a new class of people that are telling you you can commit murder after the baby's born and that's perfectly okay as long as the mother wants to get rid of the baby we are losing our humanity really are we getting into selective humanity which is not going to end well for a lot of people

[TragedyOfTheDay]

Honestly, it's a stronger argument to say that it begins at implantation. This gets around the lab arguments or the fertilized eggs that never become implanted. This also addresses certain birth control arguments.