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Question: At what exact point does human life begin!?
The egg and sperm are separate yet when they come together they form the beginnings of a human!. At what point does the human life begin!?

The only thought I have had is that if a person is considered dead when there heart stops, or when there brain is no longer functional, then can we say that life begins with the heart beating or when the brains starts to function!?

We are constantly growing and our bodies are constantly changing!. Even in the womb we are growing and changing!. So, at what point do we begin!? When are we considered "human"!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
it's all subjective!. Any answer is just opinion since there is no clear dividing line!. 200 years ago someone was considered dead when their heart stopped!. Now we can do CPR!. in 300 years, we will probably detach and freeze someone's head and revive them in a lab!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Babies do not have a conscious mind and so are not as such fully human yet!. In western culture we extend the label human to you right after you are born even though this is of course ridiculous!.

One of the issues with babies and coma victims is determining the "line" and when it has been crossed!. I do not consider a beating heart the symbol og human life!. Even mice have a beating heart!.

I think we generally should err on the side of babies and short term coma victims being human!. Fetuses and vegetatives are not!. Murderers and violent criminal ARE human however and killing them for vengance is stupid!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

We begin, and end, when our consciousness begins and ends!. That would be sometime after the sperm and egg meet, and sometime before actual birth, obviously!. Accepting my answer, I suppose the reductionists would look for brain waves and neuro-firings in the brain that take place in areas of the brain not related to simple motor actions like heartbeats and reflex!. I know notions like "awareness" are vague and difficult to pinpoint, yet therein lies your answer!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Nope humanity becomes seperate from the animals when we put on cloths not because we are cold but because we recognize the naked bodies that are different from others around us!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

We are human at the first heart beat!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'd say if your heart beats, you are alive!. I believe that is when life begins!.Www@QuestionHome@Com