To the Editor:
The October 3, 2022 Opinion page in the Daily Journal contained three articles all referencing Indiana’s abortion ban. After reading all three, I turned my focus toward the words used in the title of John Krull’s article, “A time and place for wisdom”. I began to educate myself, to gain some wisdom, to take the time to find a scientific answer to my question of when DOES the life of a human being begin and what is the definition of the word abortion as related to pregnancy?
Published in the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 1999 is a paper entitled, When do human beings begin? “Scientific” myths and scientific facts, written by Dianne N. Irving, M.A., Ph.D. Irving reviews some basic human embryological facts, refutes several “scientific” myths, and cites the work of noted embryologists.
This is not exactly an easy read, but to quote Irving’s paper under Fertilization, “A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo) … This new single-cell human being immediately produces specifically human proteins and enzymes (not carrot or frog enzymes or proteins), and genetically directs his/her own growth and development. (In fact, this genetic growth and development has proven not to be directed by the mother.) Finally, this new human being, the single cell zygote, is biologically an individual, a living organism, and individual member of the human species.”
These scientific facts should give us pause when discussing induced abortion as defined as the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, most often performed during the first 20-24 weeks of pregnancy. I will add here that there are babies who have survived a premature birth with a gestational age less than 24 weeks. The youngest survivor, so far, was born at 21 weeks and one day gestation.
There are no differences between a human zygote and a human being. They are the same. Both are biologically an individual, both are living organisms, and both are individual members of the human species. As such, both should individually have the basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All the human zygote needs, this new human being, is time in the womb to grow and develop … time and place.
In Krull’s article he states, “…the toughest questions in life are not the ones in which we must choose between right and wrong, but rather between right and right. The hard calls occur when we must elevate one dearly held principle over another – when we must prioritize our values.”
Yes, there is a time and place for wisdom and it is now!
Now is the time and place for wisdom, to elevate all the yet-to-be-born human beings. Now is the time and place for wisdom — when we must prioritize our values to include the rights of even the newest human being in the human family.
Sue Ann Copp
Bargersville
