When Does Life Begin?

 The recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen in vitro blastocysts (approximately 58 cells), commonly called embryos but perhaps better termed pre-embryos, have personhood has led to considerable debate about everything except the underlying problem of determining when does human life begin. 

I am not going to solve that problem here today, but I am reminded of a joke. 

A major disaster occurred and thousands of people showed up at the Pearly Gates all at once. The angel in charge decided to process the priests, ministers, and rabbis first in hopes that they would be easy to judge. The angel brought three forward and told them that they would have to answer a simple question correctly or go back to the end of the line. First up was the Catholic priest, and the angel asked him, "When does life begin?" The priest answered, "I know that one. It is at the moment of conception." "Wrong, go to the back of the line," said the angel. Next up came the rabbi to whom the angel asked the same question. The rabbi responded, "I know this. It is at the moment the baby takes its first breath after leaving the womb." "Sorry, go to the end of the line," said the angel. The protestant minister was next, and after hearing the same question and the last two wrong answers said, "For me it was after the dog died and the kids moved out." The angel laughed and said, "Nice try but back you go too." The angel looked at the line of people and asked if any mere Christians were there. One couple came forward. The angel looked at them, glanced down at the Book of Life, and asked, "When does life begin?" The man and woman looked at each other, nodded, and replied, "Lord knows." The horns blew, the Pearly Gates swung open, and they entered into their heavenly reward.

Okay I added the couple to the joke.

From a scientific standpoint, the blastocyst should be considered a potential baby (or babies if twins or more form after implantation). In the course of in-vivo fertilization, implantation, and development of the placental blood supply a lot of things can and do go wrong. Only the Lord knows how many failed conceptions occur in the course of an individual woman's reproductive years, but scientists believe it is a high number. 

Oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices prevent implantation. Do they run afoul of  Alabama law?

I think the Catholic Church was right back in the 1960's when they warned us that the birth control pill would open us up to all sorts of potential problems down the road. The least of which is that we now play God with reproduction, and this becomes obvious in the case of in-vitro fertilization although most obvious in the case of elective abortion. 

At the present time there is no universal consensus as to the answer posed by our hypothetical angel in the joke above. The Alabama Supreme Court ruling sounds like the judgement that I myself might make if I were to sit in a human court, but the mere Christian answer is probably the best one that I could come with if my soul was on the line.