Claim: Life begins at conception

Question

Some of the most prominent scientists and physicians testified to the U.S Senate committee that human life begins at conception. Do you agree with this? The predominance of human biological research confirms that human life begins at conception.

Comments

The comparison between beliefs and science make this question hard to answer for doctors, scientists, and more. There is still no consensus among scientists for the correct answer to this question. A fertilized egg cannot survive without its mother, and will die without it. Check out this link:
https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-021-00624-4

---

@mkherbert, good explanation and source. Don't forget to add a rating, which might be, "opinion" or "N/A" given that there is no consensus or clear answer for this ask. Good work.

Answer 1

False. Life does not begin at conception because a fertilized egg/fetus is fully reliant on the mother for survival and if removed will not survive on its own. In fact, the beginnings of a heartbeat don't even start until 6 weeks after conception. Check out this link:

https://www.livescience.com/65501-fetal-heartbeat-at-6-weeks-explained.html

Comments

This is a contentious topic. I didn't note anything in your source saying that life begins when there's a heartbeat. So your evidence doesn't quite debunk the claim, noting that it may be difficult to do so because, if you dig deeper you'll find a lot written on the subject, but no consensus. Some even say that "biology does not determine when human life begins. It is a question that can only be answered by appealing to our values, examining what we take to be human."

Also, it's worth noting that there are fact-checks on this topic, such as https://evolutionnews.org/2022/05/fact-check-yes-human-life-begins-at-fertilization/ but not all fact-checks are accurate so it's best to review supporting evidence carefully.

Answer 2

Life does not begin at conception because the fetus does not have a heartbeat until 6-8 weeks, fertilization begins at conception. Additionally, a fetus is not self-sufficient and has no chance of survival without the woman carrying it.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/when-does-a-fetus-have-a-heartbeat#timeline

Comments

This is a contentious topic. I didn't note anything in your source saying that life begins when there's a heartbeat. So your evidence doesn't quite debunk the claim, noting that it may be difficult to do so because, if you dig deeper you'll find a lot written on the subject, but no consensus. Some even say that "biology does not determine when human life begins. It is a question that can only be answered by appealing to our values, examining what we take to be human."

Also, it's worth noting that there are fact-checks on this topic, such as https://evolutionnews.org/2022/05/fact-check-yes-human-life-begins-at-fertilization/ but not all fact-checks are accurate so it's best to review supporting evidence carefully.