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.
;)

[Kerstyn Bolton]

In class the other day, obviously the talk about life and abortion caught my attention the most. It's such a controversial issue and so many people have their opinions about it, it sometimes gets difficult to have a civilized conversation. Although in class I do believe we did a good job about being "nice". :) But we didn't just talk about abortion, we covered the question of when life actually starts for a human being, permanent illnesses of infants and the situation of being in a vegetative state.

If you asked me when life started then I honestly couldn't find or even tell you an answer because I don't believe I'm qualified to answer this question. I believe that a doctor or scientist of some type should put all of their data together and answer this question. As we said, you get your birth certificate the day your born, but you are still a living being while in the womb. BUT are you living at the site of reproduction, after a month, when your heart starts beating or when you start forming real limbs and parts of your body? This question poses many more questions and ideas to me, so I can't answer because I don't believe I'm qualified.

Then we talked about the disease of babies or infants and how we as parents can get tests done to tell us whether or not our babies will have illnesses and diseases. This was something very new to me and I found it quite strange (but not in a bad way). I personally would never want to have this done because I don't want to know. When my child is born, they will be my child no matter what is wrong with them. Now I can understand if a parent wanted to have this done to be 'prepared' for what's to come, but it's just a bit too much for me.

Back to the disease and illnesses of children. The brain disease (i can't remember the name) where the infant loses part of their brain and only has a survival of three days would be one of the most tragic things in the entire world. But I honestly believe that I would let this child live until their last breath, no matter what the chances were. Yes on paper its survival rate would be unbelievably low, or even at 0%, but I'd still like to put it in God's hands. This isn't a decision that I should have the power to make.

I really don't want to come out with an answer that is yes or no, but I honestly can't think of any other way to answer the idea of abortion. I just can't think of any way that abortion could be justified. A child is born as a gift, so why do we have the right to just throw this gift away? Well, we shouldn't. I can't really think of how it's not murder when women get abortions. They are killing a child that is to be. First of all, think of what this child could do in the world. But sometimes they don't even get the chance to see the light of the world and I believe this is a tragedy. Everyone should have the chance to live, whether their so-called parents want them or not.

Overall, this conversation is very enlightening to me because for the most part there isn't just one answer. There's several things to question and ponder about "life". In the case of abortion, if you were to ask me, "what is life?" I would say that life is having the chance to be a part of this world that the 6 billion others have the opportunity to.

[Aziz Siddikov]

The most touched me the topic about aborting. I sad "NO" to abortion. Who gave the right to decide for their child will we live or not. Even the law allows to abort if child is less then 3-5 month, who gave them moral right to do it. I can not understand how they can live with the feeling that they killed theyer own child, in the future!?

What you do when you realize that you are pregnint, probobly will go to the doctor and chek your health and your child's health. You are wating for the results, you are afraid what if he has some disaster- your child have disaster!? You can not sleep in the nights, thinking what you will do if he will have some disaster. And finally the day of truth come, today the day that everything will come truth. You with your husband(boyfriend) go to the doctor and he called your husband and tells you something. You start to worry what about they can talk, what if my child have disaster!?

You came home and want to talk with yor husband he afraid to telling something, but finally he says that child will have Down Syndrome.They decide to abort. This is their decision, they are not very rich so they cannot afford ill child.

What you will do in their position? Do the same as they or will save him alive? This decision is will be different in different people. For example I will abort. No don’t think that I am stupid, I am normal guy bit I looking to the both sides of this situation. Somebody will say no you can’t decide for your child will he live or not, but how you can predict that we will be happy when he will born. Maybe when he grows little bit he will kill himself and left the message: “why you let my born, I don’t want to live!”

[Laci Shoemaker]

The two topics that really stuck with me in Tuesday's discussion was when does life really begin and abortion...

While sitting in class, I heard a lot of different opinions on whether life begins with conception or when you are actually born. In my opinion I think that life begins with conception because the baby actually starts having a heart beat, and it's relying on you to supply it's nutrition, it is living, it is a baby. Though you may not see it, it is there, waiting to get popped out after it is formed. Legally, life begins when you are born, because that is when you get your birth certificate, but as far as I am concerned that baby in a woman's stomach is living too.

Now the subject of abortion, I think this is the most touchy subject of all, because people get so hyped up about it.
Personally, I am not for or against it, I think that it is wrong if you get pregnant, say without using protection, you should take responsibility for it, I mean you should not have had sexual intercourse unprotected if you don't want a baby. Don't kill something so innocent because you made a simple mistake.

I think it is wrong for someone to abort a baby because he/she has a mental illness, people with disabilities are the same as us, they are no different, I mean yeah, they might have more doctors appointments and things like that, but they are the exact same. Coming from a family with handicapped kids, I think it is wrong, my cousin is the exact same as everyone else. Yeah, he needed surgery's and it costs money, but he is human, not everyone is going to be perfect. :-) Now if someone could not afford it, and they were poor living on the side of the street and their only option was to abort it, then I'd understand, but I'm still not for it.

I think if someone was raped or molested or something and they got pregnant and they couldn't take care of the baby then that is when I think it is okay, but then again I am kinda iffy on that too. You are killing something so innocent, but then again if they wanted an abortion, I would understand their reasonings. I don't know, everyone has different opinions on different subjects, so those were mine. :-D

[Terra Younger]

When does life begin?... That definitely made me think. Does it start at conception, at birth, somewhere in between? I have no clue, honestly... All I have is my opinion on things.

What seems to be the big underlining topic is abortion... Mostly everyone in this thread has been against abortion. But I'm not necessarily... There are numerous circumstances where abortion is an option. Rape, failed birth control, etc... and who am I to judge a woman that isn't ready to become a mother... I've never been in an expecting mothers shoes.... However, I think abortion should be the LAST option. If a woman becomes pregnant from rape I think she's entitled to abort the baby she has no choice for. I also think if a woman becomes pregnant because of failed birth control, not her fault, she's entitled to abort the baby... But if a woman doesn't use birth control, isn't it her fault anyway?... Adoption is an excellent alternative. There's plenty of deserving parents that aren't able to have children of their own. You should grant them what your "mistake."


On the other extreme... When does life end? This also made me think. Does it end when there's no more brain waves, when breathing stops, when the heart stops, somewhere between? Yet again, I have no clue... all I have are my opinions.

Personally, if I had a relative that was in a coma and there was no chance of them being the same when the woke up, if they ever woke up I wouldn't want them to suffer. So I'd "pull the plug." ... I wouldn't want to see my relative dying slowly in pain....

I'm still thinking about all of this as I'm writing... It's hard to decide whether someone "lives"... We can't determine life... There's no right or wrong answer... Everyone is entitled to their opinions... Ugh, this is so hard.

[Coleman Wade Babcock]

This whole subject is so frustrating for me. I believe that women have a choice but yet i also believe that everyone should have a chance. I dont know were to stand on this subject. For me i dont know wether to believe that life starts as soon as a heartbeat is detected.... or if conception is the begining of life. i just dont know. My inner religious being and scientist are duking it out to persuade me. The religuous part of me is saying that conception is when god grants life but my scientist side is saying its when the first signs of life are detected. i have no where to stand on this subject and its bugging me not being able to decide. I would appreciate some help because this is not the first time i have thought of this subject.

My morals and judgment dont match up

[Shelby Hawkins]

When I really started thinking of this topic, it reminded me of this movie. Actually, I think we should watch this someday if we have time! It's based on a true story and reallyyy good. Actually I have a netflix account and it is playable online through netflix so it is always a possibility Nash's! ---> Bella

I don't think anyone really has a right or wrong answer to this. For the most part, I do think abortion is way wrong. Just because you made a bad descision or it isn't an "opportune" time for you, you have the right to take another human being's life. What if your mother made that descision? You wouldnt' be hear today, or your future children, or grandchildren. Maybe somewhere in your offspring's future is the cure for cancer, or something that could save your life someday. Do you reallly want to take someone's life who could be responsible for saving someone else's?

I know other posts have chronicled the process of abortion, so I won’t go into that. I do think that every women should be prevented with all the options before she has an abortion. There are so many other things you can do without killing a baby. There are couples who can’t have their own children who want babies. You can’t say you aborted the baby because you didn’t want iit, because others are desperate for the life you throw away.

Abortions with medical reasons behind them are a new can of worms! I really don’t know how I feel about this. I hate the thought of an abortion, but I hate the thought of a person living a life full of pain and sadness. I really liked the story we read about the babies heart who was transplanted into another baby. This story was amazing and maybe we can utilize this more in the future.

P.S. Have you seen the book in the library, survival of the sickest??

[Blayr Bolton]

Where to begin? I'm not sure what kind of approach I want to take on this topic, or what order I want to mention things. The obvious start would be abortion, but I'm not sure by just giving an opinion I can take this discussion where I think it should go. About a year ago I was assigned to write a letter to the next President (Obama hadn't been elected yet...) about a specific topic that we were concerned about. I chose abortion. http://www.letters2president.org/letters/661-a-war-on-the-unborn I did extensive research on the topic and used several supporting details and examples while also occasionally throwing in my opinion. Personally, I believe tt takes a lot of research and evaluation of "life" to pick a side on abortion, but I think after all that I've learned, it's more about what I believe. Not everyone has the same beliefs, therefore causing different opinions to be brought out in the open.

Talking about at what point you believe that life begins was a big eye opener for me because I've never thought about life in that type of format. It actually took me a while to comprehend the question and decide what I wanted to believe. In the end, I see life beginning at conception. A birth certificate being the 'living proof' of when life begins doesn't really mean a lot in my opinion; it just proves that someone was born. By believing this, it is assumed that I also believe that abortion is murder. I'm not saying I disagree with that statement, but there is a reason for everything. No matter how mad I get or how much I disagree with the mass murderings of unwanted children, there's not much I can do. I can't tell the 1.37 million mothers a year to stop ending lives, but I can help people understand the 'other' options (listed in my paper.)

The story of the anencephaly child was also a big wow in our discussion during class. It took a lot of me to really analyze and understand the circumstances that went on in that scenario. I declared that with the parents consent I don't believe that was considered to be murder or wrong of the doctor to use the baby's heart for another child in need. I actually thought it was awfully considerate of the parents to give another child a chance to live when they were almost 100% sure that their children couldn't survive. All in all, I think the parents consent was the biggest factor in whether or not the anencephaly child's heart could be used. That was the security blanket that ensured it wasn't murder or unethical.

Honestly, I could sit here and type for another hour, but it's really not necessary because everyone would just be reading not only my opinion, but what I truly do believe. I am not by any means for the choice of someone to have an abortion, but abortion goes so much further than that. There's rape, incest, unplanned pregnancies, uncontrolled cirumstances, and just a whole lot of different situations that can occur with pregnancy. And who am I to decide the fate of the world? I can say for sure that I do not believe in aborting a child because of preconcieved notions that they will be disabled or disease prone. How can someone find it in their heart to murder a child with Down Syndrome because they don't fit into their perfectly aligned family? I do believe that should not be an option for a mother-to-be.

In the end, this is all very controversial and majorly opinionated. It's also a huge dilema that is seen in our world daily and all we can do about it is put in our two cents. So, here's mine. :) Take what you want from it.

[Sean Nash]

"Honestly, I could sit here and type for another hour, but it's really not necessary because everyone would just be reading not only my opinion, but what I truly do believe."

You need to be behind the wheel of your own blog. Period.
When you are ready to do this... I'll introduce you to thousands of people who are willing to listen.

[Amanda Dixon]

Biologically, at what moment did your life begin?

I think this topic is HUGE because this is where abortion comes in. does it begin at conception? Or when you hear the first heart beat? Or what about when you are born? Is it murder to have an abortion after a certain period of time?

I believe every one has their own opinions on all these questions and there really isn’t a right or wrong answer it’s what you morally believe.

most people having been saying no abortion, but i believe there a certain cases where it would be okay. If some one has an abortion just because she doesn't want to have a baby i'm not saying thats completely right but in some states there are no laws that says she can't do that. I wouldn't judge someone badly if they decided to do that because you do not know there situation....

When I looked up an anencephalic newborn baby I didn’t no what to think but I do believe that since we know there is no way for the baby to live that if there is a baby who needs the babies heart it would be okay to give it.

Personally I would never want to be kept alive on machines.

I believe life ends when the heart stops beating.

[Ally S]

Well, in my personal opinion, abortion is incredibly wrong. It's taking away a life, and I do think it's a form of murder. I mean, everybody deserves a chance to live.

I won't thoroughly argue my point here, though.

Hmm..the definition of life. I guess that definition is different for everyone. You define your own life by how you live it. But in scientific terms (and in my words) life is contained in an animal or person with a beating heart. And the topic of, "when does life begin?" is also clearly up for debate. I guess you never really know. In my personal opinion, it starts at conception.

[Miranda Lynn Stanton]

I personaly don't think anyone should have an abortion. It shouldn't matter if the child will have disabilities. Everyone should have a chance in life.