Life does not begin at conception:

I do not believe I will need 5 rounds to prove this point, but I reserve the right to refute any arguments my opponent may bring up in later rounds. I will start with the Bible, from which all morality has its foundation. From there, I will show that Life according to "science" begins much earlier than 28 weeks. In Jeremiah 1:4-5 we read, "Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."" God knew Jeremiah before He formed his body the womb. Thus Jeremiah was alive before the formation of his body, I believe this to mean from the time he was conceived. Luke 1:41, and 44 says, "And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 44 "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy."" Elizabeth's child was about 24 to 28 weeks old at this point, because the angel announced Jesus conception to Mary during the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, and immediately Mary went to Elizabeth's house (Luke 1:26 and 39). Yet the child was already aware. Now I will look at some scientific data. Dr. Tommy Mitchell in his article "When Does Life Begin?" (1) says, "For reasons unclear to medical science, the mass of cells sometimes splits to produce identical twins. These twins are called identical because their sets of chromosomes are identical. Depending upon the stage of development when the split occurs, the twins may share certain placental parts, but the twins produced are distinct individuals. If the split occurs between the 13th and 15th days, the twins will actually share body parts, a condition known as conjoined twins, commonly called Siamese twins. (After that time, development and differentiation are too far along to allow successful splitting.)" If 13 to 15 days is too late for the embryo to split completely, yet two individuals form that are conjoined, then I would argue that individualization occurs at about this time. That would mean that whatever it is that makes you "you" is already formed by 15 days after conception. Only three weeks after conception a heart and blood forms. By 4 weeks, that heart is beating, and a unique blood supply (separate from that of the mother) is flowing. (2) Most women are just now figuring out that they are pregnant at this point. It is clear that God considers an unborn child to be human, and recognizes His ability to know us, "before [we are] formed in the womb". Since He is the creator, I will follow His lead in this recognition. It is also clear that the individuality of a child is formed very, very early his the development. That being the case, I would have to say that the soul was formed at that time as well, maybe earlier. I adamantly oppose abortion on the grounds that a child at any stage of development is "human", and therefore deserving of protection. Children (especially unborn children) are the most defenseless, helpless, at risk humans, and therefore demand of us the most protection and support. References: 1. https://answersingenesis.org... 2. http://www.mayoclinic.org... PS: Because I feel it is grammatically incorrect to use the word "it" to refer to a human child, the PC crowd out there can gather your pitchforks and torches if you want, but I think it is ridiculous to say "his/her" every time I want to say something about a single individual that could be of either sex. I refuse to do it. I will use "he" or "his" without apology.