Legally, It's Not a Baby

CBN.com - Is an unborn human life a baby? The technical and legal answer is No.

Under the 14th amendment of the United Sates Constitution, a person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Since Roe v. Wade, these rights do not apply to the unborn. Therefore, in an effort to legitimize and make more palatable this decision, technical labels attempting to decrease the value of the unborn child have been assigned to various stages of development.

From conception to 2 weeks the unborn child is technically called a preembryo. From 2 weeks through 8 weeks, the unborn child is technically called an embryo. From 9 weeks until birth (at 40 weeks) the unborn child is technically called a fetus. A baby, on the other hand, is a name reserved for a child living outside the womb, in other words, one who has been born. Only then do the rights and privileges of a 14th amendment person apply.

The great significance of these legal and technical terms is that they predict the legal status and moral treatment the unborn child will receive. Specifically, they determine the limits of actions and omissions of actions that physicians, scientists and patients have in activities concerning them. These activities include not only abortion but also creation of embryos for implantation, freezing leftover embryos, human experimentation, research, and cloning.

The legal dilemma concerning the moral status of the unborn child is poignantly highlighted in the current controversy over the arrest of Scott Peterson by Modesto, California, police on charges that he murdered his wife, Laci and their unborn child.

Prosecutors say Peterson is being charged with double murder so they can seek the death penalty. The definition of murder is the unlawful killing of another person (Gilberts Law Dictionary). The question is whether the legal definition of a person applies to the unborn child.

In reporting Scott Petersons arrest, the Associate Press found itself in a rhetorical conundrum. At first it used the generic word bodies to refer to Laci Peterson and the child. Then it referred to infant son and later fetus and biological child and still later in the story, the couples baby.

Undoubtedly, it is the "squishy" legal status of the unborn child that muddies the water. Clarity, on the other hand, is found in science and medicine which provide overwhelming evidence that the unborn child is a human life from conception.

From conception the unborn child is genetically human and genetically different from either parent. The unborn child is also a complete organism, sexually distinct with the ability to self-direct its own growth and development. While in the womb, the unborn child moves like a newborn, can taste, hear and respond to pain.

A brief outline of the chronological development of the unborn child reveals that in the very first month, the brain begins to appear and the heart begins to beat. By the second month, great changes occur in appearance because of the emergence of a disproportionately large head and the formation of the limbs, face, ears, nose, and eyes. Though unnoticed by the mother, general movements actually occur including startles, hiccups, isolated arm and leg movements even head rotations.

By the end of the second month, nearly all organs are in a grossly recognizable state and the unborn child has nearly doubled in length to 30 millimeters. By now the face is unmistakably human. The chin is visible. The nose is stubby. The mouth is present. The external ear is evident. The eye is heavily pigmented and the eyelids are closing. In fact, the fully formed fingers of both hands are usually found close to the nose. Imagine that even at this early age, the hand of the unborn child will touch the face slowly and the fingers open and close.

Between the third and fourth months, the unborn child responds to sound. If the region near the mouth is stimulated, the child will open his mouth and suck a finger. The child can also accomplish a complete change in position, usually with a backwards somersault. Regarding physiological features, the sex can now be determined by ultrasonic measurements. And fine palm lines have formed, which can be used for permanent identification.

By the fifth month, a full complement of nerve cells is present. Pain receptors initially present in the face, palms, and soles of the feet have spread to the trunk, arms, and legs and all areas of the skin. The evidence thus suggests that by this time in gestation, the child can sense pain.

Remarkably, by the sixth month, the child could survive, with the aid of technology, outside the mothers womb. Head and body hair are visible including eyebrows. Rapid eye movements begin and the lungs are capable of breathing air. By the seventh month, there is an enhanced activity in the brain and the skin becomes smoother as fat deposits, which insulate and provide energy. In the eighth month, the brain still grows rapidly as growth of the body slows down. All sense organs are fully functional, and the baby looks much as it will upon arrival. In the ninth month the baby is ready to be born.

Despite these well-recorded facts, the use of misleading technical and legal terms has recently taken on new emphasis with the claims that human embryos have scientific and perhaps commercial value as sources of stem cells. Unquestionably, the disposable terms are intended to protect the cause of abortion advocates, deceive and ease the conscience of those participating in various abuses of the unborn.

The truth is legal and technical accuracy can never sanitize the true purpose in creating and using these terms. These terms do not signify the percent or degree of ones humanness during gestation. Neither do they predict species membership. For that information we look to science and medicine where there is no debate. Human life begins at conception even if rights, privileges and protection do not.

Visit Science Ministries, Inc.

Endnotes:

[1] Kelly Hollowell holds a law degree and a PhD in molecular biology. She is a professor of bioethics and president of Science Ministries, Inc. This scientific and medical research for this article is based largely on the research efforts of John F. Cogan as presented in his web-based book Science Sheds Light on Unborn Human Life, www.sfuhl.org, September 9, 2001. This research is endorsed by at least eight obstetricians/gynecologists regarding the accuracy and reliability of the facts presented. For a detailed list of physician endorsements, go to www.sfuhl.org/endorsements.htm, visited 02/9/03.

[1] Cal Thomas, The Scott Peterson Conundrum www.townhall.com/columnists/clthomas/printct20030422.shtml, visited 4/22/03.

[1] T.W. Sadler, Langmans Medical Embryology, 8th Edition p 411, Lipppincott Williams & Wilkins (Baltimore), 2000; Roberts Rugh, et al, From Conception to Birth p 33, Harper & Row, (New York), 1971

[1] Sadler, p 77; Keith L. Moore, et al, The Developing Human, 6th Edition, p 5 Clinically Oriented Embryology, W.B. Saunders Company (Philadelphia), 1998; Marjorie A. England, Life Before Birth, 2nd Edition p 104, Mosby-Wolfe (London) 1996; Rugh, p 17

[1] Sadler, p 106

[1] P.J. Roodenburg, et al, Classification and Quantitative Aspects of Fetal Movements During the Second Half of Normal Pregnancy, p.31, Early Human Development, (1991); Jan G.Nijhuis, et al, Fetal Behaviour: Developmental and Perinatal Aspects, p 5, Oxford University Press(Oxford) 1992.

[1] Nijhuis, p.5

[1] Roodenburg, p 31; Nijhuis, p.5

[1] J.I.P. de Vries, Early Human Development, The Emergence of Fetal Behaviour I. Qualitative Aspects, p 311, (1982).

[1] Nijhuis, p.5

[1] Bruce M. Carlson, Human Embryology and Developmental Biology, p.407, Mosby (St. Louis), 1994; Moore, p 3

[1] ORahilly, p 55

[1] Rugh, p 53 and 54; Moore, p 100 and 239; Sadler, p 110

[1] England, p 81

[1] Moore, p 100

[1] Moore, p 100

[1] England, p 92; Moore, p 99

[1] Moore, p 99-100

[1] Rugh, p 53

[1] de Vries, p 309 and 311

[1] Nijhuis, p 133

[1] England, p 206

[1] de Vries, p 301 and 309

[1] Sadler, p 113; Moore, p 109; F. Gary Cunningham, et al, Williams Obstetrics, 20th Edition p 154, Appleton and Lang (Stamford, CT), 1997.

[1] K.J.S. Anand, M.B.B.S., and P.R. Hickey, M.D., Pain and its Effects in the Human Neonate and Fetus, The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 317, No. 21, November 19, 1987, p 1322, 1326.

[1] Moore, p 114

[1] Cunningham, p 155; Sadler, p 114; Moore, p 113 and 517

[1] Moore, p 114; Nijhuis p 5; Jason. C. Birnholz, The Development of Fetal Eye Movement Patterns, Science, Vol 213, p 679, August 7, 1981.

[1] Moore, p 114

[1] Alexander Tsiaras, From Conception to Birth, First Edition, p 247, Doubleday (New York), 2002.

[1] Tsiaras, p 252

[1] Tsiaras, p 261