What is Life?

[Sean Nash]

*Biology is the study of life & living things. Reflect here on Tuesday's discussion dealing with a deeper definition of what the word "life" really means. You can do this in several ways. Some might choose to respond individually to each of the issues represented. Others might choose the one single topic of discussion that struck you most profoundly.

The main idea is... to let Tuesday's chat marinate a bit in your head, and then come back to reflect. This is a good way not only for you to realize how value was added to your life from our discussion, but also to share those changes publicly. You grow a little bit every time you mentally prepare to publish a sentence in a public forum.

As always, I am proud of your very responsible communication in our class. Please continue to be nice to each other first and foremost throughout this discussion...

*This reflection will not be due in the normal turnaround time of two days. Our late start here means that we will have until the next class period.
;)

[Hunter Ewart]

Abortion is the topic tht really stuck with me the most from our discussion. I actually went out and did a little talking to people about how they felt about the topic and what would they do if they were in that position of having a child with a serious illness. Most of them said that they wouldn't abort but they also said that if they was able t o know ahead of time that there child wouldn't have the best oppertunity to have a regular life then they wouldn't follow through with the pregnancy. On the other hand not all tests are 100% accurate so really you never know exactly what is going to happen. Sometimes you just have to hope for the best. my question is how does the parent(s) decided to abort it? Is it a loack of wanting a child? Is it fair to the child if you do abort it? I've be thinking about wheather this is murder or not and right now i think it would be murder after a certain period of time. Like how they do the abortion timeline.

[Ali Bargu]

Should it be allowed to abort a child when it has a disability? That was the one topic that stuck the most in my head. Do the paretns have the right to decide over the life and death of a child, who is not even on this earth? I think no! But at the same time they already decided over the life of this child while they decided to get pregnant or not.
Although i think that every individual has the right to live, i can understand the parents who do not want to have a child with real heavy disorders, because they think ....

[Kylie Warner]

I think that the topic of abortion is what stuck with me the most because in our world, it is a huge contraversial topic. I think that life starts at coneption and any time a life is ended by abortion. My personal opinion is that everything happens for a reason. So whether the pregancy was planned or not, there must be a reason for it. I know that leagally, you're life does not start until the minute you are actually born and in a way, I can see why. Because I don't think that doctors can determine the exact minute that you were formed in your mother's tummy. ;) But you are not dead inside the fetis and therefore I think that you must be alive and having an abortion is killing a baby which is considered murder. But I understand that everyone has their own view points on the subject.

[Marcy Withrow]

I believe that life starts at conception. My moral belief is to say “NO” to abortion. It seems wrong to decide, for your own child, to end their life. Who speaks for them? Everyone deserves a life. I believe too that even if the child were to have a problem like Autism or Down Syndrome, they should live. Just because they aren’t the same as everyone else doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy life just as us.

I got this opinion from my brother’s girlfriend, Kari , who has an autistic brother. He still lives with his parents at the age of 26. She changed my mind. At first I figured they wouldn’t have a good life, so why not just put them out of their misery before it even began. But, my mind changed fast when Kari talked about her brother. It turns out he is just like anyone else. He loves swing sets and being with family. I know if I were Kari I wouldn’t want to put my brother out of misery either. I’m sure she has had so many memories with him. My mom used to be a special Ed teacher too. So, I have been around many kids that are autistic or are just different. I can tell they have feelings too. When it comes to aborting a child just because they have a problem I believe that is wrong. You aren’t doing the child a favor, you’re still ending their life.

I can see both sides to abortion. “NO” because you’re ending their life, that isn’t fair. “YES” because you still have the right. It’s like owning a puppy, not that I’m comparing a child to a puppy. But, the parent does own the child because they made that life. So, aren’t they the real decision maker whether the baby lives or dies? I think it’s about your moral belief, some people don’t understand. But, if they are the parent and they think it’s okay, then shouldn’t they be able to decide whether the child lives or dies?

Personally I wouldn’t decide to abort my child. I couldn’t possibly imagine making such a decision. I would always wonder what it looked like and I would live with that regret for the rest of my life. I see it that if a parent can make that decision that’s great for them. If they can live with the thought of killing their child and never seeing it’s face or the joy it would bring, then the more power to them. I don’t think I’m on one side or the other because everyone is different. Besides who are we to judge? It’s better to not make an argument and let those who are doing wrong keep doing wrong and let those who are doing right keep doing right. It’s all about what you believe. I lean more towards "No."

[Taylor Woodruff]

Marcy, I agree with the statement "who are we to judge," but I don't understand what you mean by "let those who are doing wrong keep doing wrong" Could you clearify what you mean... because I don't understand why we would let the wrong keep doing so if we have the ability to stop a lot of it?

[Marcy Withrow]

I don't know. It's hard to stop those who do wrong. Sometimes it's better to not make an arguement, the less drama the better. Not that we shouldn't change what is going on. But, everyone has their different looks because this topic is very big. So, if a mom can abort their child, then the more power to them. But, I don't think it's ever going to stop. In the end we aren't the decision makers, the parents are. Therefore, all the "wrongs" won't stop. Does that make any sense? (:

[Ivory Baldwin]

There were a lot of topics that stuck in my head after the class discussion. The first one was the question biologically at what moment did your life begin? The legal deffition of Life says that life begins at Birth, but I do not agree with that because when you have a baby inside you and even before it turns in to a baby you still need to take care of it or it won’t even have a life. When it’s in your stomach it’s still alive. I believe that life begins at conception. Even know it’s not a law to take care of your body during pregnancy it should be. In my mind I don’t get why people smoke or drink or do drugs while they are pregnant. It’s no different than letting your little baby smoke at the age of two. You would get in trouble if you let your two year old smoke but you can’t get in trouble for smoking while you’re pregnant? It’s the same right?!
Then there is Abortion on this topic I still cannot say if it’s right or not. I guess everyone has a different life and different situations. I’ve never been pregnant so I’ve never had to be in a position where I have had to make that discussion. Then again I know it’s not right to just take a life away from someone that hasn’t even had a chance. I was taught by mom family that it’s wrong to have an abortion and I know I wouldn’t but people I know have had one and not saying its right or wrong but they were not ready for a child at that time. I just wouldn’t have the heart to do it. The next thing that stood in my mind was the when people have an abortion just because they know the child is going to come out with a serious incurable defect. Again I can’t decide what to do because I would not want to give up my child but I would not want them to just suffer. Then there is how do we know they are suffering.What if your child was born with anencephalic, where no babies have survived passed a few days. Would you kill it? What if your baby was the first baby not to die from being born with anencephalic, if you kill it you would never know. In class Blayr said she didn’t want to know if here child had a defect because she would have them and keep them no matter what. The same thing is said in this book i'm reading called Handle With Care by Jodi Pelitcot, this lady has a daughter with OI ( osteio imprefecta ) which causes her bones to be really fragile. Long story short a lawyer finds out about their story and wants to file for wrongful birth against the doctor. The parents don’t want because they love their daughter and wouldn’t change it.

[Taylor Woodruff]

Even though I wasn't able to be in the conversation in class the other day.. I mostly heard people and can see people commenting on the topic of abortion. So, I'm just going to stick with that topic :p But, I know that people have the right to believe in what they want, but I'm going to have to side with being AGAINST abortion. I believe that life begins before you are actually born, I mean you're mother still has to care for you as if you were out of her belly right? So, I consider abortion a form of murder.

I believe that babies didn't choose to be made, YOU decided that when you were having sex. You knew what you were doing, so you should know you should have to face the consequences. Now, I know some people don' get to decide when theyare raped, so Ithink it's ok in that scenario, but ONLY in that scenario.

I think it's self-fish of people to have an abortion if they find out that their child has a disability. I believe that every child has a right to live, no matter what the circumstances are. You never know what miracle can happen, so why take that chance away from a child? I personally think that people with disabilities are some of the happiest people alive, and some people I've talked to say they don't even want to imagine what life would be like without their disability.

So, even though I strongly believe that abortion is WRONG (in most circumstance) I understand that other people see differently. But, all I'm saying is there are more ways than abortion to deal with an unwanted pregnancy.

[james d green]

okay. im not gonna lie and say i remember everything we talked about little under a week ago. so i read everyones replies below and they are mostly about abortion of a kid.

i have a question, people are ALWAYS excited when they hear that they are going to be an uncle or aunt, mom or dad. however, why would, whenever you get the 'live or die test' which is what it may be to some people, if they find out that their child is going to have a learning disability or no arm or whatever the case may be, they want to kill or stop the unborn from developing. what makes this 'test' so great? why do we even have this test? its not even a one hundred percent correct method of finding tweeks in this kids life? AND is it possible to possibly give the child some sort of prescription steroid to boost its growth?

PLUS when exactly is a human time to end the fetus's life. even though the mom and dad may not want to live with the disability. how would the abortion affect the aunt and uncle or grandparents?

"people that are for abortion have already been born," that quote came from Ronald Regan. interesting because of the fact that most of our past presidents have been AGAINST ABORTION.

now some people simply get the 'test' to only better prepare for the whole process if say the child were to have some sort of disability. EX: my aunt and uncle were going to have their second child keaton is his name. they had the test done and everything. i was there when they got the phone call from the doctor when he said that he was going to have a learning disability AND that he is at risk of even dieng while still a fetus. my uncle was on the phone and said "okay sir, thank you. now were off to the store to get some leap frog learning games."

[Shandis Cruz]

I must admit that this was indeed a very controversial discussion. The topic of life has always intrigued me because so many people have so many different opinions in regards to what it really is. When you first posed the question, when does life begin, my head started spinning with the possible answers. The thing that stuck in my head is when people tell me that my life hasn't even begun, that it doesn't really "start" until I am on my own, but is that really true? I say this because I'm pretty sure that I am alive right at this very moment. Then there was the second thing that I kept thinking of, unborn children. Although they are not experiencing the outside world I still consider them to be living, I mean after all they have a heart beat and require nutrients to stay alive. With that said I had two huge topics dancing in my head before we even started reading!

When we finished the read I was able to understand what kind of "life" it was actually discussing, whether life begins at conception or at birth. My personal belief is that life starts at conception. I feel that I can legitimately say that an unborn child has life because it requires things to live, and I don't know about anyone else but I strongly feel that that qualifies something as experiencing some form of life; no they are not seeing and being actively involved in the outside world, but really, I don't think they should be considered any different from me.

That leads to the next topic that also sparked everyone in class' interest, abortion. As I touched on before I think that an unborn child should be treated in the same manner that any of us should be. I am definitely anti- abortion. I feel that if someone feels that they are responsible enough to conceive a child, then they should be able to face any repercussion of their actions. I can't help but think, how could someone end an others life, especially when they have no input. One thing that I constantly think of when people say that they are pro- choice is, what if the person that will hold the cure for cancer is aborted, what if Thomas Jefferson or any other radical thinkers mother said, no thanks, I wasn't ready for a child, get rid of it. Where would we be? That's why I feel that it is so very necessary to give these living, breathing human beings a chance to live, because who knows the great things that they could possess.


Going in the complete other direction of life, death. When I took the time to think of death and what it really is, I started leaning towards, that death may be a state of mind. What I mean by that is, does a person really have to be "dead" for their life to cease existence? I feel that your "life" will go on after you are no longer your "human- self" which is why I feel that you life never really stops. In that same thinking I have often heard someone say, he or she is "dead." For example when a loved one is lost people often say that the one closest to them died with them, they are no longer the same inside, their emotions have hit a downward spiral and they don't feel the need to go on, they aren't "themselves," in that sense does that qualify a person as dead, I believe in some way that it does. I still go back and forth on my views of this matter, but one thing that I do believe is that my life will go on even after I am "dead."

[Shelby Hawkins]

So..is the tuesday discussion in the directions the discussion we are having tomorrow? I'M CONFUSED!

[Hannah Rush]

This has been by far the hardest thing for me to put into words. I guess I'm really not sure how to "be nice" whenever it comes to the subject of abortion. So let me go ahead and apologize in advance for anything I may say that offends anyone reading this post. I am not very open-minded when it comes to this topic so changing my mind about it will be next to impossible. So far in this class, our assignments have been challenging, but we've never really had to discuss such a controversial subject either. I'm actually kind of shocked that we are even allowed to discuss it in public schools.


For those of you who may not know how abortion became 'legalized' in the United States, the Roe Vs Wade case is what determined it. Roe was Pro-Choice and Wade was Pro-Life.

To inform you at how an abortion can/is performed at differnt stages, I've decided to use a lot of information I gathered from a website. If you are not really willing to read the truth, or accept the fact that these are scientific facts, I'd suggest to skip the rest of this post.

At 8-12 weeks old, a suction abortion is performed. To do this, the abortionist must dilate the cervix which can be very harmful to the mother. After getting the cervix fully dilated, the abortionists then sticks a hollow tube with a knife-edged tip into the mother's womb. Then they connect the tube to a vaccuum cleaner, yes, a VACCUUM CLEANER, that is 29 times more powerful than a household vaccuum cleaner. The suction of the vaccuum is so powerful that it tears apart the fetus and the placenta until they are in tiny pieces. The remains are emptied into a bottle and then discarded. Wait it gets better! At 8 weeks, a fetus has eyelids and even hair that is forming. THEY CAN ALSO suck their thumb, do somesaults, jumps. There's even more that these babies are capable of. They can also squint their eyes to block light, they can frown, swallow, and even move their tongues. Now tell me that this isn't really murder.



Even though it is LEGAL to have an abortion during your first trimester, people should be amazed at what a fetus can do at just 3 months along in its life. All of the baby's internal organs are formed. There is blood pumping through blood vessels, and the brain is fully developed. They have a heart beat. Legally, the baby still isn't alive...even though it has a heart beat...? Does that even make sense? To me...NO!. At twelve weeks a baby is able to feel pain since the brain is fully developed. They can cry silently because their vocal chords are fully developed as well. They can even suck their thumb. At 14 weeks, the fetus' muscles begin to lengthen and become stronger, this is when the mother may start to feel their baby moving and kicking in their womb. When the fetus is 15 weeks old, they can taste their mother's meals because adult taste buds have developed. A week later, when a fetus is 16 weeks old, the fetus can grasp things with their hands. They have also formed eyelashes/brows.

Usually the D&C abortion is used during this time. To perform this, they use a hook shaped knife to stick up into the mothers womb and cut the fetus into pieces. The abortionist then pulls the pieces of the fetus out and disposes of them. Keep in mind that the baby feels every ache and pain this may cause because their brain is fully developed. Can someone say torcher?


Let's move a little further into the pregancy. By 18 weeks, a fetus is able to blink and move around.
"20 weeks: The child can hear and recognize mother's voice. Though still small and fragile, the baby is growing rapidly and could possibly survive if born at this stage. Fingernails and fingerprints appear. Sex organs are visible. Using an ultrasound device, the doctor can tell if the child is a girl or a boy" 20 weeks. That is only 5 months along in a pregnancy which in some states, it is still legal to abort the baby. :( Look at your brothers and sisters and think about what life would be like without them. Be thankful that your parents chose to keep them, and you for that matter.

After 16 weeks, abortionists poison the baby. They use a needle to inject a salty fluid into the mothers womb. The baby automatically assumes it is food, so they will swallow the poison. The poison burns the outside layer of skin off of the baby and they SLOWLY die. The mother then procedes to have the baby and sometimes when they are born, they are still living and the doctors just leave them unattended until they die. I'm pretty disgusted by the whole thought of this.

Ususally after about 24 weeks, the abortionists use the most grotesque procedure of them all. If you thought it was bad before, you have no clue. Since the procedure is so disgusting, it has made it really hard for me to type it all out. Basically, the abortionists stick sissors into the mothers womb and start opening and closing them and turning them in circles until they have completely mutilated the baby.


I don't know about you, but that was the hardest thing for me to have to read. After reading that I hope that I have opened at least one persons eyes to how wrong abortion really is. In our paper, it said something about morals. I would like to know how murdering a baby has any "morals" to it at all? I guess my religion really does play a huge factor in my beliefs on this. I think that God had a plan for every life he created, whether it be a deformed baby, or a set of quintuplets. I don't understand how we have to "right" to just take the life of a human being away from them before they even had a chance to survive. A lot of people will say, "well what about the girl who's uncle raped her and she got pregnant?" HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS ACTUALLY HAPPEN? Not as many as we think. I think that abortion is a scapegoat for those who choose to be grown up enough to have sex, but not grown up enough to deal with the consequences. I think that in the case of the baby with the brain deformation, and the baby with the heart problems, doctors could've used an organ donors heart. I have a cousin who died at the age of 8 and donated every last one of his organs. This is what they are made for. What if the baby with anencephalious were to live? The parents of that child would have had a lot of hardships to overcome, but I think that with the help of God, things may have worked out. Like I said, my religion plays a huge part on my opinion. I know it is Science, but sometimes, you really should think about what is morally right. I don't think women should have the right to choose. I think it is an easy way out. If you want to sleep around, be prepared for the consequences. There are way too many other options parents have than to MURDER their own baby. And I use the word murder because it doesn't matter which way you look at it, you are taking the life of another human being.