Pro-Life is pro-logic and pro-science.

There is a lot of discussion going around our nation and its leaders regarding unborn children. A simple review of humanity through the #SLEDtest can remind us we are dealing with principles not preferences. While there are admitted circumstances that are complex and sensitive, and should be discussed uniquely and compassionately, the unborn child has an identity with rights and deserving protection. 

Size
If a person, child or adult, is smaller than another, that does not make them any less of a person. Size does not communicate significance or value. Likewise, the unborn child is smaller in development, but has all the DNA and genetic makeup as every born child and adult.

– Do human’s lose value when they look different?
– Does size equal significance?
– Can men oppress women, who are generally smaller than them?
– Are toddlers less valuable than teens because of their size?

Level of Development
Toddlers are less developed than teens, and teens less developed than adults. Persons with learning disabilities, mental illness, and physical disability or handicap have less development than others. Admittedly, embryos and fetuses are not as developed as an adult, but personhood is not determined by ability but identity.

– Are all human’s only valuable based upon their developmental abilities?
– Should the disabled, war veterans with handicaps, and those hospitalized with sickness or disease be removed from society because they no longer posses a standard of development?

Environment
Some nations do not possess the skill or tools necessary to protect and preserve life’s challenges and meet basic needs. However, a person’s location should not determine their value. Likewise, the location of an unborn child in the womb does not give it any less value as a newborn or adult. The journey of few centimeters does not transform the value of a human life. Where you are has no bearing on who you are, and the unborn are persons worthy of protection.

– Should immigrants or persons from other nations be condemned as non-persons because they live in a different location?
– Should animals who need specific environments be treated as disposable based on an indefinable standard of environment?
– Can changing your environment or location alter you status and significance as a person?

Degree of Dependency
Today’s technology has enabled premature births – even as early as 21 weeks – to survive and see children thrive through medical care and family nurturing. Likewise, the unborn’s dependency on a mother for biological sustenance is irrelevant to their value. No baby ever born is “viable” if degree of dependency is the standard for life. If so, all physically dependent people would be at risk to society’s whims. Further, if dependency on an external source makes one not human, then those who are dependent on kidney machines, pacemakers, and many other types of medicine would be declared non-persons and deemed disposable. But, we know that is not the case. There is no ethical difference between an unborn child connected to its mother than a patient plugged into a medical machine.

– Is it right for the helpless, the defenseless, and dependent to be disposable?

 

What happens during weeks 1–8 of pregnancy?

• Placenta begins to form.
• The brain and spinal cord begin to form.
• The tissues that will form the heart begin to beat. The heartbeat can be detected with ultrasound at about 6 weeks of pregnancy… an impressive 80-100 beats per minute!
• Buds for limbs appear with paddle-like hands and feet.
• The eyes, ears, and nose begin to develop. Eyelids form, but remain closed.
• The genitals begin to develop.
• By the end of the eighth week, all major organs and body systems have begun to develop.

What happens during weeks 9–12 of pregnancy?

• Buds for future teeth appear.
• Fingers and toes start to form. Soft nails begin to form.
• Bones and muscles begin to grow.
• The intestines begin to form.
• The backbone is soft and can flex.
• The skin is thin and transparent.
• The hands are more developed than the feet.
• The arms are longer than the legs.

What happens during weeks 13–16 of pregnancy?

• Arms and legs can flex.
• External sex organs are formed.
• The outer ear begins to develop.
• The BABY can swallow and hear.
• The neck is formed.
• Kidneys are functioning and begin to produce urine.

What happens during weeks 17–20 of pregnancy?

• The sucking reflex develops. If the hand floats to the mouth, the fetus may suck his or her thumb.
• The skin is wrinkled, and the body is covered with a waxy coating (vernix) and fine hair (lanugo).
• The BABY is more active. You may be able to feel him or her move.
• The BABY sleeps and wakes regularly.
• Nails grow to the tips of the fingers.
• The gallbladder begins producing bile, which is needed to digest nutrients.
• In female BABIES, the eggs have formed in the ovaries. In male BABIES, the testes have begun to descend.
• It may be possible to tell the sex of the BABY on an ultrasound exam.

What happens during weeks 21–24 of pregnancy?

• The BABY may hiccup.
• The brain is rapidly developing.
• Tear ducts are developing.
• Finger and toe prints can be seen.
• The lungs are fully formed but not yet ready to function outside of the uterus.

What happens during weeks 25–28 of pregnancy?

• The eyes can open and close and sense changes in light.
• The BABY kicks and stretches.
• The BABY can make grasping motions and responds to sound.
• Lung cells begin to make a substance that will enable breathing.

What happens during weeks 29–32 of pregnancy?

• With its major development finished, the BABY gains weight very quickly.
• Bones harden, but the skull remains soft and flexible for delivery.
• The different regions of the brain continue to form.
• Hair on the head starts to grow.
• Lanugo begins to disappear.

What happens during weeks 33–36 of pregnancy?

• The BABY usually turns into a head-down position for birth.
• The brain continues to develop.
• The skin is less wrinkled.
• The lungs are maturing and getting ready to function outside of the uterus.
• Sleeping patterns develop.

What happens during weeks 37–40 of pregnancy?

• The BABY drops lower into the pelvis.
• More fat accumulates, especially around the elbows, knees, and shoulders.
• The BABY gains about half a pound per week during this last month of pregnancy.

Fetus = BABY

Weeks Sources

American College of Obstetricians & Gynecology https://m.acog.org/Patients/FAQs/How-Your-Fetus-Grows-During-Pregnancy

WebMD https://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/your-pregnancy-week-by-week-weeks-5-8

https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/week-6.aspx

Pro-Life is pro-logic and pro-science.