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- Newsgroups: alt.birthright
- Path: sparky!uunet!psinntp!execnet!execnet![adrienne.franco@execnet.com]
- From: "adrienne franco" <adrienne.franco@execnet.com>
- Subject: prolife and biology
- Message-ID: <1993Jan26.1842.653@execnet>
- Reply-To: "adrienne franco" <adrienne.franco@execnet.com>
- Organization: Executive Networks Information
- Distribution: alt
- Date: 26 Jan 93 08:58:56 EST
- Lines: 51
-
- DP>And the basis of their argument is the THEOLOGICAL belief that a
- DP>one-celled fetus is as much of a human being as you or I,
-
- While theology is concerned with personhood and the value of human life,
- the humanity of the unborn child is not solely based on this.
- Evidence comes from other disciplines/perspectives as well.
-
- Is the following "theological"?
-
- "At day 14 after conception, occasional heart contractions can be
- perceived, at day 17 blood cells begin to develop and by day 18, alpha's
- <the author's term for unborn child> primitive heart has been known to begin
- its work. By approximately day 31 the heart has settled into rhythmic
- contractions... By five and a half weeks alpha's heartbeat has a general
- configuration similar to that of an adult and is sometimes traceable by
- electrocardiogram (EKG). Alpha by now is also pumping its manufactured
- blood through its own closed vascular system."
-
- "..Birnholz et al. at Stanford University reported motions 'from
- early in the first trimester' with considerable twitching of the trunk and
- head beginning as early as 7 weeks, independent limb movements by 8-10
- weeks, and more elaborate motions subsequently. ... alpha's motions are
- visible even earlier, at the first stages at which current ultrasonography
- is able to pick up alpha."
-
- "By the twelfth embryological week, when brain structure is essentially
- complete, alpha is spontaneously able to kick its legs, turn its feet,
- curl and fan its toes, move its thumbs, make a fist, bend its wrists, turn
- its head, squint, frown, open its mouth, suck its thumb, swallow amniotic
- fluid, and make inhaling-exhaling motions ..."
-
- "At 6 weeks or so, the major organ systems have formed."
-
- "BY WEEK 12, THE CLOSE OF THE SO-CALLED 'FIRST TRIMESTER,' ALPHA IS A
- FULLY DEVELOPED, FUNCTIONING HUMAN BODY IN MEREST MINIATURE, 3 INCHES
- IN LENGTH AND TIPPING THE SCALES AT 1/2 OUNCE. Its fingerprints and
- sole and palm lines are by now unique for each individual ... "
-
- "What remains? The mother will experience movements of the body within
- her ('quickening') at 16-17 obstetrical weeks, BUT WE KNOW FROM MODERN
- BIOLOGY THAT THIS AGE-OLD RULE OF THUMB FOR LIFE'S EXISTENCE IS MEANINGLESS."
-
- From: Nathanson, Bernard M., MD, with Richard N. Ostling. ABORTING AMERICA.
- Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979. Quotes from pp. 198-203
-
- Adrienne Franco
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