On Mon, 24 May 2004 18:53:23 -0500, Ronn!Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: <snip> > > OTOH, by the time it is possible to know that an egg has been fertilized > and implanted (and thus an abortion is needed in order to insure that it > does not develop further) it is no longer just a single cell . . . > > > -- Ronn! :)
I am not clear what stage you mean: A single sperm penetrates the mother's egg cell (ovum) and the developing child gets half of its genetic information (in the form of DNA) from the mother (this is contained in the egg), and half from the father (from the sperm). The resulting single cell is called a zygote. The zygote spends the next few days traveling down the Fallopian tube and divides to form many attached cells. A ball of cells is produced, each cell including a copy of the genes that will guide the development of the baby. Once there are about 32 cells, the developing baby is called a morula. With additional cell division, the morula becomes an outer shell of cells with an attached inner group of cells. Now the developing baby is in the "blastocyst" stage. The outer group of cells will become the membranes that nourish and protect the inner group of cells, which will become the embryo (the next stage for the future baby). The blastocyst reaches the uterus at roughly the fifth day, and implants into the uterine wall on about day six. At this point in the mother's menstrual cycle, the endometrium (lining of the uterus) has grown and is ready to support a fetus. The blastocyst adheres tightly to the endometrium where it receives nourishment via the mother's bloodstream. During the time between implantation and the eighth week, the cells of what is now called the embryo not only multiply, but begin to take on specific functions. This process is called differentiation, and is necessary to produce the varied cell types that make up a human being (such as blood cells, kidney cells, nerve cells, etc.). http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002398.htm Day 6? If this is morphing into an abortion/pro-life discussion.,, Actually I'll go with what Jesus believed about when human life began. Jews and early Christians believed a soul entered the body with the first breath. Perhaps that should be modified now to be human life begins with a viable, capable of breathing, human. Before that time, after day 6, it is part of the mother. Until day 6 after fertilization it is a microscopic free-floater, from then until third trimester it is part of the mother, at third trimester, or shortly after, he or she is human. :-( Did I really want to assist in morphing this conversation? Gary "first religion and then abortion, isn't the next step politics, followed by ****=Hitler, explosion, implosion, and then we try another topic?" #1 on Google for liberal news
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