Sperm and ova are alive, but most people would agree that they do not constitute human life. This question is not easy to answer, but it is at the heart of the abortion debate.
Few people advocate killing babies, but many disagree about when a mass of cells becomes a baby.
The question becomes more and more clouded the farther along the pregnancy is, and it is especially crucial in the debate over late-term abortions. On the first day, the woman is given a drug to dilate her cervix. Two days later, the woman returns to the doctor, who uses forceps to turn the fetus to a face-down position while it is still in the womb. The doctor partially delivers the fetus by pulling the body into the vaginal canal while leaving the head lodged just inside the cervix. The doctor then punctures the base of the skull, and removes the brain matter using a suction device, thus collapsing the skull and allowing complete removal of the fetus.