Science proves it: Life begins at conception

There are those who accuse people of faith of being anti-scientific. Such people try to argue that people of science cannot be people of faith, as if the two are opposing forces. The opposite is true. People of faith delve into science knowing that the cosmos was created by an intelligent and rational God and, therefore, the cosmos must be capable of being known by intelligence since it must be rational. For Christians, the cosmos does not contain mysteries but only questions which have not yet been answered.
Some of the same people who try to portray people of faith of being anti-scientific, tend themselves to be anti-scientific when science disproves their own prejudices. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of respect for life.
Life begins at conception. At the moment of conception, there is nothing further to be done for human life to exist. Human life has begun. The body of this new human life will change during pregnancy as the body develops, but the life has begun. The body always changes. My body today is very different from my body the day I was born, but my same human life continues uninterrupted. My life began, as everyone’s does, at my moment of conception. That is not a belief; it is a scientific fact.
The new human life, created at conception, relies upon the mother for everything during the time of pregnancy, as the child will continue to rely upon others for everything even after birth takes place. Even though the baby in the womb relies upon the mother, the baby is not part of the mother’s body. The baby is a new and distinct human life. Approximately three weeks after conception, the baby’s heart begins to beat; after about six weeks the brain begins to function. The baby in the womb has his or her separate heart, brain, DNA, and fingerprints, all distinct from the mother. This is scientific fact.
Anyone can decide to remove a part of their body, if the organ is detrimental to the health of the body. Surgeries are performed to remove diseased tonsils, gall bladders, or appendixes. The removal of an injurious part of the body is prudent and reasonable. People have the right to care for their bodies and to make those prudent decisions. At the same time, unlike the organs of the body, the baby is not part of the mother’s body. The baby is within the mother’s body but separate from it. It is a distinct human life.  Again, that is science.
It is a tragedy beyond measurement that our culture has turned its back on the reality that the baby in the womb is a human life. Instead, we have developed an industry to abort the lives of countless babies, treating them no differently than a diseased tissue to be discarded. We close our eyes to scientific facts. There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
We also close our hearts, and the consequences are profound. Any culture which acquiesces in the killing of lives as innocent as are the lives of babies will ultimately discover that no lives are of value. 
Our society not only acquiesces in the killing of babies; it advocates for it. If the innocent lives of babies are not valued, our society loses any credibility in trying to teach the young that human life is to be respected. The consequences of this failure to foster respect for life is unfolding right before our eyes in many ways.
October is Respect Life Month. I ask that we pray for parents who have had an abortion and for those considering an abortion. If anyone is considering an abortion, I urge you please call To Be Options for Pregnant Women at 251-923-3305 or 2B-Choices for Women at 251-343-4636. Wherever you live in the southern half of Alabama, they can help or put you in contact with someone in your area who will be there to help you.