Does Life Begin at Conception or Birth?

The abortion debates have fueled much discussion on this subject. Pro-choice advocates have guarded their legal and political victories by denying the humanness of a baby while it is still growing inside of its mother. Pro-life supporters have maintained that a baby is human from the very moment of conception, when the male sperm fertilizes the female egg and begins a new life made in the image of God.

The Bible makes it clear that babies do not begin to exist when they evacuate the birth canal. They have already existed for nine months inside their mothers’ wombs. In Psalm 139:13 it says,

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Clearly, the psalmist understood that human life begins long before birth.

The ministry of John the Baptist was prophesied before his birth. In fact, John the Baptist, although in his mother’s womb, responded physically when his mother, Elizabeth, was greeted by her pregnant cousin, Mary, who was pregnant with the Lord Jesus. Scripture says that John leaped for joy when Mary came to visit Elizabeth. The leaping baby in the womb confirms that at every stage of development, human life is present and precious in God’s sight.

A baby’s dignity is not determined by her size, capacities or level of function. One’s Identity and worth is derived from her essence as a creature made in God’s image. Human beings do not gain this status gradually, at some magic stage of development, such as when he starts to resemble a newborn. No, this baby is human the instant the chromosomes from the sperm are united with those of the egg. Humanness is determined at conception.