When does life, a particular life, and life in general really begin? Thirty-five years ago when my son was born I wondered – with wonderment – about the mystery of birth and of life.
My experience was that the idea of a beginning to life appeared somewhat ludicrous. Everything, it seemed to me, was a part of a beautiful process whose beginning would be impossible to determine.
The first verse of Genesis in the New Revised Standard Version of the bible says, “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth….” I have read that an accurate translation of that verse from the Hebrew might be rendered as follows: “In the time of beginnings when God is creating the heavens and the earth….”
The implication is the beginning is always a present tense. Now is the beginning of what will be even as now is the result of what was. The power that moves the now into the future is mysterious and sacred.
The moment of birth is the beginning of a life that will grow and develop outside the womb, but it is always the result of what went before. The moment of conception is the beginning of what will take place in the womb: a sperm and an ovum come together to form a zygote that, guided by its genetic material, will grow into a fetus and develop into a human baby. If all goes right, the baby will be born into to the world. The zygote is a beginning, but it is the result of what went before.
The sperm, too, lives in its own way always prepared to form a union with an ovum just as the ovum also lives such a desirous life.
When I married my wife, our life together became a beginning, but this does not imply that I was not alive before our marriage. Neither can we say that the life of the sperm or the ovum was meaningless until they formed its union. They were real in their own right.
And, of course, what might we say about the force of life that draws a potential mother and father together in order to bring some fulfillment to their respective gamete. Such a biological imperative is also a beginning of something new, even as it is the result of life before.
In reflecting on just when life begins from the prism of experiencing the birth of my son, I'm struck with just how impossible it is to definitively say when there was a beginning. All of the various beginnings are but an expression of that beautiful and sacred thing we understand as life.
Its beginning is as eternal as its Source and all of it is holy and sacred and deserving of respect and awe. And, all of life, from our lives as human beings, to the creatures of the land and the birds of the sky and the flowers and grass to the smallest single-celled creature alive in the darkest pit of the ocean are all part of life’s continuum. Life is, it seems, one, and all its various parts are expressions of its various needs and manifestations.
The evolution and ecology of life is that in order for it live there must always be sacrifices by parts of the living web. Life is sacrificial by nature. Parts of the web of life must let go and give of itself for the common good.
In the oceans, on the land and in the skies, one part of life gives itself over for other parts as they become nourishment and sustenance. The nourished and sustained will, in turn, also give themselves back to the earth as the cycle of life flows into the future. How is it possible to name a beginning in this unfolding symphony?
The 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalized abortions based in a right to privacy, found in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment.
The political and religious establishments of the United States have been in conflict over this right to abortion. On the choice side of the debate, the argument has essentially been based in a woman’s right to privacy, and with that privacy, to be able to choose for an abortion if she believes it is necessary for her life.
On the anti-abortion side, the argument is the fetus is a human being and to kill the fetus defined in this way is essentially murder. Further, anti-abotionists argue a fetus after about 20 weeks of gestation has developed a nervous system capable of experiencing pain, and, consequently, abortions should be outlawed on the grounds it causes pain and suffering. As I write this opinion piece, the Iowa legislature is struggling with this very subject.
Is the fetus a human being? The answer might be 'yes' if you understand the fetus to be part of the continuum of life that becomes human. At the same time, perhaps, it is no more a human being than the sperm or ovum that produced it, or the force of life that brought the gamete together, or the plants and animals that were eaten that provides nourishment to the mother and the fetus.
To suggest causing the death of a fetus is tantamount to murder is to define murder down to nearly all killings, and one cannot live without the death of other life forms. Murder requires intention of malice and aforethought. Few, if any, abortions rise to that level of maliciousness.
Could there be pain and suffering to the fetus during an abortion? The answer is, of course, 'yes.' Again, though, is the pain a desired, malicious activity? Is the infliction of pain intentional? The answer would obviously be no.
What of the pain and suffering a woman might experience that led her to choose for an abortion? Is her pain any less significant than what the fetus might experience?
Pain and suffering can come in many forms. Often in the course of life, decisions must be made and choices must be acted on that stands for the lesser of evils and the lesser of pain. Who has the wisdom to judge any particular woman’s decision and choice? In a free society, we must respect her right to choose as we respect the privacy of her life and the privacy of her pain and suffering.
In war we, as a society, inflict much pain and suffering on innocent civilians –- non-combatants, women and children. We have bombed buildings in our pursuit of victory over the enemy most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I am not suggesting these actions were unnecessary or not legitimate. What I am suggesting is in life we are always faced with real choices that may cause pain and suffering for the sake of a greater common good. It is for us, as American citizens, to decide whether the real pain and suffering we have caused serves that common good.
Abortion is a sad and tragic event. It rips a hole in the very fabric and continuity of life. I wish an abortion would never be necessary. I wish choosing an abortion would never be the lesser of evils. I wish we, as a society, would provide the necessary support and assistance to make choosing an abortion less necessary.
What I know is as a society we have very little desire or inclination to provide the financial, emotional and structural assistance that would make carrying a baby to term a choice worth considering for a woman facing an unplanned and tragic pregnancy.
When does life begin? I think a new life will really begin when we begin to have compassion for each other, for our world and for the continuity of life in which we experience our being. I believe life begins when we begin to see that we, all of life, are in it together.
