Zygotes Have Rights Too: The Case Against Abortion

The topic of abortion is one of the most heated topics for discussion in America today. The country is decidedly split, as recent Gallup polls indicate 50% of Americans to be pro-life, 41% pro-choice, and 9% non-committal. Similarly, a higher percentage of women are pro-life! That is an interesting fact that many of you may not have known. Regardless, that last point certainly puts a dent into the "War on Women" slogan of liberals and pro-choice advocates, since more women are decidedly pro-life than not.

The definition of "life" for the purposes of legal protection from abortion is an extension of the discussion. A 2008 poll of nearly 1,100 likely voters found that 59% believed that life begins at conception, while only 17% believed that human life does not begin until birth. (I am not sure what these people believe in the frequent case of a baby being pulled from the womb early for safety reasons.) What my counterpart will tell you is that your opinion and my opinion do not matter. What matters is what science can prove and disprove, and what the scientific community decides is appropriate for defining life. To my opponent, and those of you in agreement, I must confess that I agree! Science will (and already has) determine when life begins, and you are not required to make a giant leap of faith to agree.

That's right folks. We know when life begins. There is not a single scientist or physician on planet Earth that will tell you that a human zygote is not alive. Read that again, reworded: Every single medical or other scientist on the planet will agree that an oocyte (egg) that has been fertilized by atozoa (sperm cell) thus becoming a zygote is alive. Go ahead. ask them. Google it. Do whatever you can to disprove it, but know this: you will fail.

Because they all agree that the zygote is alive, how can there be any debate regarding the beginning of life? In the comments, some of you will say that this discussion is about the protection of life and whether a zygote is worthy of such rights. Guess what? Within hours, not weeks, of fertilization, the complete genetic being that will become your baby is found in a zygote. In fact, a doctor can identify the sex of your unborn child within hours, not weeks, of conception. 

Finally, the human body is made up of 60 to 90 trillion cells all at different stages of their lives. This is irrefutable. Every single part of our body is made of cells. Without the totipotent first cell of life, we cannot exist. period. Since that first cell is alive, as everyone agrees, and it is the single point from which our bodies are developed, it absolutely must be the beginning of human life. Period. There is no other feasible explanation.