Am I Alive?

One of the most hotly debated topics that involves abortion is the age or time period at which a fetus or baby is considered alive. Pro-Lifers generally say that the fetus is alive from the moment of conception, because it will inevitably become a human being and is already growing and developing the parts of the human body. At this point, the fetus will not become a whale, or a dog, or an ardvark. It is human.

A commonly repeated phrase is 'self-sustaining', as in "A baby is alive the moment it is self-sustaining."

Is a baby self sustaining when he or she is born?

No.

Not at all.

The baby still depends on their mother for food, warmth, shelter, love (Oh, yes. Emotional needs are just as important as physcial needs.). A baby can't get a job, they can't feed themselves.  Likewise, I am not self sustaining because I cannot drive to the store to buy my own food or buy my own water. I depend on what my parents keep in the house for life. So if a person is truly alive once they are self-sustaining, then I'm not alive yet. My heart is beating and my internal organs are functioning and growing and repairing themselves, and my brain is still moving and pruning synapses and forming into a mature adult brain, but I am not alive because I cannot support myself.

 Does this sound familiar at all? A unborn baby's heart is beating at roughly 14 weeks after conception, and his/hers internal organs are developing, growing, and reparing themselves. Their brain is starting to form and begin a long journey towards maturity.

Yet so many people say that this does not qualify as life. It is a mystery to me, and I mean that in all honesty. Is the worth of a person's life really determined by their age and state of living? 

Is an eleven year old's life less worthy than a thirty year old? 

Is a disabled person's life less worthy than an olympic athlete's? No.