Twitter icon


Facebook icon

About this site
About us
Our beliefs
Is this your first visit?
Contact us
External links

Recommended books

Visitors' essays
Our forum
New essays
Other features
Buy a CD of this site
Vital notes

World religions
BUDDHISM
CHRISTIANITY
-Christian definition
 -Shared beliefs
 -Handling change
 -Bible topics
 -Bible inerrancy
 -Bible harmony
 -Interpret the Bible
 -Persons
 -Beliefs & creeds
 -Da Vinci code
 -Revelation, 666
 -Denominations
HINDUISM
ISLAM
JUDAISM
WICCA / WITCHCRAFT
Other religions
Cults and NRMs
Comparing Religions

Non-theistic beliefs
Atheism
Agnosticism
Humanism
Other

About all religions
Main topics
Basic information
Gods & Goddesses
Handling change
Doubt & security
Quotes
Movies
Confusing terms
Glossary
End of the World?
True religion?
Seasonal events
Science vs. Religion
More information

Spiritual/ethics
Spirituality
Morality & ethics
Absolute truth

Peace/conflict
Attaining peace
Religious tolerance
Religious freedom
Religious hatred
Religious conflict
Religious violence

"Hot" topics
Very hot topics
Ten Commandments
Abortion access
Assisted suicide
Cloning
Death penalty
Environment

Same-sex marriage

Homosexuality
Human rights
Gays in the military
Nudism
Origins
Sex & gender
Sin
Spanking
Stem cells
Transexuality
Women-rights
Other topics

Laws and news
Religious laws
Religious news

Sponsored links

 

Web site logo

Abortion access

Menu

Core questions in abortion & stem cell debates:
1. When does human life become a human person?
2. What to do when we cannot reach a consensus?

Sponsored link.

Quotations:

bullet

"Whether or not abortion should be legal turns on the answer to the question of whether and at what point [an embryo or] a fetus is a person. This is a question that cannot be answered logically or empirically. The concept of personhood is neither logical nor empirical: It is essentially a religious, or quasi-religious idea, based on one's fundamental (and therefore unverifiable) assumptions about the nature of the world." Paul Campos, professor of law at the University of Colorado. (2002) 1
 

bullet

"The real question today is not when human life begins, but, 'What is the value of human life?' The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother's body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being." President Ronald Reagan, (1983). 2

This section describes various beliefs about when human personhood begins:

bullet Introduction: Overview; what pro-life & pro-choice groups agree and disagree on.
 
bullet More info: Terminology; Spermatozoa, Ova & Zygotes
^^^ We recommend reading these two essays first. ^^^

bullet Conflicting beliefs about when personhood starts:
 
bullet It happens at conception -- the most common pro-life position
 
bullet It happens when blood first appears -- an interpretation based on the Bible
 
bullet It happens later in pregnancy -- the most common pro-choice positions
 
bulletBeliefs expressed in U.S. law and among different faith groups
 
bulletSecularly-based beliefs that personhood occurs during pregnancy
 
bullet It happens at 14 or 22 weeks gestation -- two novel arguments
 
bullet It happens during childbirth -- the traditional Jewish position
 
bullet What the laws of the U.S. and Canada say
 
bullet Is a consensus possible? Will it ever be possible?
 
bullet U.S. state and federal "fetal homicide" (a.k.a. "unborn victim") legislation

Sponsored links:


Site navigation:

 Home page > "Hot" topics > Abortion > Basic facts > here

 Home page > "Hot" topics > Abortion > Religion/ethics > here

References used:

  1. Paul Campos, "Opinions: PAUL CAMPOS: Abortion and the rule of law ," Scripps Howard News Service, 2002-JAN, at: http://www.nandotimes.com
  2. President Ronald Reagan, "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation," The Human Life Review, 1983-Spring, Online at: http://www.nationalreview.com/

Copyright © 1995 to 2011 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2011-NOV-27
Author: B.A. Robinson

line.gif (538 bytes)
Sponsored link

Go to the previous page, or return to the "Abortion facts" menu, or to the "Religious and ethical aspects of abortion" menu, or choose:

Google
Web ReligiousTolerance.org

Go to home page  We would really appreciate your help

E-mail us about errors, etc.  Purchase a CD of this web site

FreeFind search, lists of new essays...  Having problems printing our essays?

Twitter link

Facebook icon

Google Page Translator:

This page translator works on Firefox,
Opera, Chrome, and Safari browsers only

After translating, click on the "show
original" button at the top of this
page to restore page to English.

 
 

Sponsored links: