Quotes | Abortion

Robert P. George, Princeton Professor, former member of the President’s council on bioethics, said, “Human embryos are not some other type of animal organism like an animal or a cat; neither are they part of an organ like a heart, kidney, or skin cell; nor again or they a disorganized aggregate, a mere clump of cells awaiting some magical transformation; rather a human embryo is a whole living member of the species, homo sapiens, in the early stage of his or her natural development.  Unless severely damaged or denied or deprived of a suitable environment a human being in the embryonic stage will by directing its own integral organic functioning develop himself or herself to the next more mature development state, i.e. the fetal stage.  The embryonic, fetal, child, and adolescent stages are stages in the development of a determinant, and enduring entity, a human being, who comes into existence as a single celled organism called a zygote, and develops if all goes well into adulthood many years later.  But does this mean that the human embryo is a human person of full moral respect; must the early embryo never be used as a mere means for the benefit of others simply because it is a human being.  The answer is yes.”

Princeton professor Robert P. George writes, “From a purely biological perspective, scientists can identify the point at which human life begins.  The relevant studies are legion.  The biological facts are uncontested.  The method of analysis applied to the data is universally accepted.  Science overwhelmingly supports the idea that life begins at conception (Kevin DeYoung, Don’t Call it a Comeback:  The Old Faith for a new Day, 181).”

Dr. Hymie Gordon, founder and director of the Mayo Clinic’s world-renowned medical genetics program, submitted the following expert testimony before Congress:  “I think we can now also say that the question of the beginning of life – when life begins – is no longer a question for theological or philosophical dispute.  It is an established scientific fact.  Theologians and philosophers may go on to debate the meaning of life or purpose of life, but it is an established fact that all life, including human life, begins at the moment of conception (Kevin DeYoung, Don’t Call it a Comeback:  The Old Faith for a new Day, 181).”

Dr. Jérôme Lejeune, a French pediatrician and geneticist, professor of genetics at the University of Rene Descartes in Paris, who discovered the genetic basis for downed syndrome said, “Life has a very, very long history, but each individual has a very neat beginning, and that beginning is the moment of conception.”

Justin Taylor calls it the “crucial question:  what’s in there?  If we believe that there is a human being… we will stop at nothing to protect and to preserve that life.  No amount of money or energy or equipment is too big:  we must do everything we can to protect and preserve the life of a fellow human being in distress (Quoted by Kevin DeYoung, Don’t Call it a Comeback:  The Old Faith for a new Day, 180).”