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When Does Human Life Begin?
Karl Salscheider, Professor of Health
Evangelical Free Church – Bemidji, MN
January 22, 2012
If you have an outline in your bulletin, I have 3 verse sets to add. Under what does the Bible
say about life in the womb, please add Hosea 9:11, Proverbs 6: 16 & 17, and Exodus 20:13.
Let’s consider this morning, the words of the psalmist in chapter 122 verse 1 when he said, “I
was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord”.
It’s great to be here on this “Sanctity of Life Sunday” and this morning, I would like to bring forth
a message entitled, “When does Human Life Begin?” I would like to look at this question from
both a Biblical and Scientific perspective.
So what does the Bible say about life in the womb?
First of all, God was involved in our creation. Isaiah 49 verse 5 says:
“And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring
Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of
the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.”
Secondly, God knows us and we have a relationship with Him. Jeremiah 1 verses 4 and 5 say:
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Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
The womb was Jesus’ pathway. Luke 1 verses 30 and 31 say:
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And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name JESUS.
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The womb is also a place of reward: Psalm 127 verses 3 and 4 say:
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Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
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We are identified first when conceived. In the Psalm of David, chapter 51 verse 5 says:
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Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
The Bible has numerous versus about life in the womb. Perhaps Hosea 9:11 addresses it best
when he writes:
As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb,
and from the conception.
Proverbs 6: 16 & 17 state:
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These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.
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And finally from the 10 commandments: #6 from Exodus 20 God states:
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Thou shalt not kill.
What does Science say about life in the womb?
Medical texts have universally taught that human life begins at conception.
The Hippocratic Oath, the 2500 year old bulwark of medical ethics contains just 7 sentences
yet specifically forbids abortion by saying: “I will give no pessary to produce abortion.”
The late Dr. Alan Guttmacher, the former director of Planned Parenthood called the fertilized
egg “the new baby created at this exact moment.” He also wrote, “after fertilization, a baby has
been conceived.”
Dr. L. B. Shettles, world famous embryologist, declared: “The genotype that is conferred at
conception does not merely start life, it defines it.”
Dr. Jerome LeJeune, discoverer of the chromosome abnormality of Down Syndrome stated:
“When does life begin? I will try to give the most precise answer to that question actually
available to science. Life has a very long history, but each individual has a very neat beginning,
the moment of its conception. To accept the fact that after fertilization a new human being has
come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. The human nature of the human being,
conception to old age, is not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence.”
Former Genetics chairman at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Hymie Gordon, stated: (by the way, his first
name Hymie is Hebrew for life) “By all the criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present
from the moment of conception.”
Current Harvard Medical School Professor, Dr. Micheline Mathews-Roth says: “It is scientifically
correct to say that human life begins at conception. Our laws, one function of which is to help
preserve the lives of our people, should be based on accurate scientific data.”
Former chairman of the Pediatrics department at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Alfred
Bongiovanni, says: “I am no more prepared to say that these early stages represent an
incomplete human being than I would say that the child prior to the dramatic effects of puberty is
not a human being.”
Former United States Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, states: “By the 21st day of
conception, before most women know of the pregnancy, the preborn child demonstrates its first
feeble heart beats.”
Within the scientific definition of life, we were never a seed, nor were we ever an egg, but every
one of us was a zygote from conception.
In my Personal and Consumer Health class at BSU, I ask my students the question when do we
become human? As they consider their options, I give them the SLED Test: size, level of
development, environment, and degree of dependency.
Let’s start with the S, Size. I say, how tall and how big do we need to be to be human? Do
we become human when we reach 6’8” tall, and perhaps 267 pounds? And they chuckle
because they know that is my height and weight. Then they start to think, well…how small is
too small to be human? Then all of a sudden they are truly at a loss.
Then I go to the L, Level of Development. I say, how old do you need to be to be human?
60? They know I am approaching 60 and they chuckle again. Then I say, well…do you need a
PhD to be developed enough, or maybe you guys aren’t human yet because you don’t have a
bachelor’s degree. Were you human before you went through puberty? Then I repeat, how old
and developed must we be to be human or of value? They’re thinking.
Next, I go to E, Environment. Let’s take water for example. Pastor Fred loves to swim and he
can go in and out of the pool with no problem. Yet on the other hand, most preborn children are
restricted to water or to the womb for their survival. When we were that age, our oxygen
exchange was different yet just as effective. Did that make us any less human or any less
valuable because we couldn’t switch environments? Just as the environment of choice for the
preborn child is the mother’s womb, the environment of choice for the heart attack victim is the
intensive care unit of a modern fully staffed hospital. Shall we then close our intensive-care
units since many life-threatened patients are presently not viable outside emergency care? No!
The reason we have intensive-care units are to save those who are temporarily unviable! We
should not deny preborn children the same consideration.
In 1986, a South Korean 747 with 269 people aboard strayed over Soviet airspace (property)
and was shot down. Our government immediately condemned the slaughter as ruthless and
pre-meditated. The Soviets claimed property rights as do many pro-choice advocates. Yet,
biologically, the mother and preborn child are two separate human beings with distinctive lifesupport systems. This may not sound very pleasant, but the relationship between the mother
and the preborn child is one of host and invited parasite. 99.95% of all conceptions are done so
by consenting intercourse. The preborn child develops his/her own placenta (the nourishment
lifeline) that completely separates the mother and preborn child. Since not one drop of the
mother’s blood is necessary for the development of the preborn child, establishing biological
property rights is impossible.
The last consideration is D for Degree of Dependency. Some say that since the preborn
child is totally dependent upon his/her mother, it is not yet human. Must we be completely
independent to be a human being? According to my tax records, my twin boys, Nathan & Joel,
are considered my dependents. Does that not make them human? They certainly are more
independent than teenagers. Are they not human either?
From the Civics perspective:
Discrimination in its worst form denies the humanness of its victims. Adolf Hitler convinced Nazi
Germany that Jews were sub-human. What will history say about the United States of America?
African American human beings were denied liberty.
Native American human beings were denied property.
Unborn American human beings are denied life.
History has proven us wrong about African Americans.
History has proven us wrong about Native Americans.
We cannot afford to wait for history to prove us wrong about unborn Americans.
Ever since the Roe v. Wade ruling of 1973, unborn Americans are refused the status of
personhood for the sole purpose of legalizing abortion. Interestingly enough, there is one
exception in 38 states that grants personhood for unborn Americans, but the sad fact is they
must be declared dead first before they can be granted personhood. Unborn Americans can
only be considered legal persons if they are victims of homicide ex post facto. And currently in
Minnesota, that carries with it a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
Early 1960s Planned Parenthood literature warned women about the dangers of abortion and
explicitly stated that abortion kills the baby.
Not one iota of scientific data has emerged to cause Planned Parenthood to reverse its stand.
To the contrary, the latest medical technology has only reinforced the accurate assessment that
biological life begins at conception.
Our country’s first historical document, the Declaration of Independence declares,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created (not evolved, not
developed) equal, that they are endowed by their creator (that’s God) with certain
unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
22% of all Unborn Americans are denied the right to life.
I would like to recommend a 30-minute YouTube video entitled “The 180 Movie.” It is written
and produced by Ray Comfort who is one of the world’s most successful street evangelists.
Ray does an outstanding job of making people think logically about the illogic of abortion and
rejecting the Savior. Perhaps some of you are familiar with “The Way of the Master” with Kirk
Cameron. In the “180 Movie”, Ray asks the following question:
Please complete this sentence:
It is OK to kill a baby when…
His dialog is extraordinary.
The scripture reading this morning came from Judges 13 and it was about Samson. There have
been big strong guys in the Bible, but Samson was the only man specifically mentioned with
extraordinary strength. Samson humbled the Philistines, he tore off the gates of Gaza, he
destroyed a huge building, and freed the Israelites from slavery. He was the last judge in Israel.
Yet, he had sensual weaknesses that had horrendous and deadly consequences. Samson was
a sinner just like us. But despite all his failings, God loved him, forgave him and used him for
His glory. God wants forgiveness, healing, and restoration. It was Samson’s choice to repent
and he did. You and I can too.
As I walk through the hallway near my office at BSU, I see proudly displayed a hundred or so
members of the BSU Athletic Hall of Fame. These photos and plaques honor those who have
gone before me. Yet, God has a Hall of Fame, and it can be found in Hebrews chapter 11. It is
called “God’s Hall of Faith” chapter. In particular, verses 31 and 32 read:
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By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had
received the spies with peace.
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And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak,
and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:
That’s the tail end of a very impressive list.
Yet, despite our sins, we too can be forgiven and still be a part of God’s Hall of Faith.
If you have sins to confess, do it. Do it now. God will forgive you and restore you to the hope of
your salvation.
And if you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, I would be glad to talk to you on
how you can know for sure you are on your way to heaven.
I John 5: 11 – 13 says
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And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
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These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye
may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
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