The great minds of medicine and science 100 years ago knew very little about fetal development. Justice Blackmun’s statement about the lack of consensus between science and the Bible (theology) regarding the beginning of life, which we read in yesterday’s devotion, may have been accurate in 1900, but it isn’t accurate anymore.
Science tells us an incredible array of documented facts regarding early fetal development. A baby’s heart starts beating from eighteen to twenty-five days after conception, usually before the mother even knows she is pregnant. By the thirtieth day, almost every organ has begun to form. By forty-four days, the brain waves are active and are identical to those of adults. At fifty-six days the baby has his own fingerprints, can make a fist and can urinate. At sixty days he can feel pain. By seventy-five days he is sensitive to heat, touch, light and noise.
Finally, by the end of twelve weeks (eighty-four days), which is the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, all body systems are working, even though the baby weighs only one ounce and is two to three inches long.
Science has shown us that all of this is happening in the first trimester. Yet in Roe v. Wade the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that during the first three months of pregnancy the decision to abort is left totally to the judgment of the woman and her attending physician.
At the turn of the twentieth century, science could only tell us that at the twelfth week of pregnancy a “wad of cells” existed. Today, embryologists tell us that at twelve weeks what we have is a perfectly formed tiny human being. There is perfect consensus between the Bible and science that at three months life has not only begun but is complete and thriving.
Many scientists argue that, if a person is in a coma and on artificial life support systems, as long as he has brain activity he is alive. If this is so then science has placed the time of the beginning of life at forty-four days (six to seven weeks), since this is when a baby has brain waves identical to those of that same person in a coma.
What if we view the beating of a human heart as our barometer for life? Since most people today equate heart attacks, and the cessation of the functioning of the heart, with death, then at eighteen to twenty-five days (three weeks) our little pre-born (newborn) is clearly alive. Since most women do not even know they are pregnant at three weeks, abortion is not even an option yet.
But what is happening in that initial period between conception and three weeks? We see a fantastic growth in the birth and development of cells. Life is exploding on the scene. The only conclusion from the study of science and the Bible is that both have proven that a consensus does indeed exist. Regardless of what the Supreme Court may say, life begins at conception. Once again science has caught up to what the Bible said 2,000 years ago.
Medical technology has also been given the privilege to show us that the concept of viability (the ability for the baby to live outside the mother’s womb with special medical care in most cases before the normal nine months’ gestation is complete) is constantly changing. And as it does, it is bringing us closer to when the Bible says life begins.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court (even in Roe v. Wade), viability is an important consideration as to when life begins. The answer to this question, however, depends on when you were born. Back in 1850 even babies born at eight months (one month premature) had a low survival rate. By 1930, thanks to medical advances, birth at seven months offered a good chance for survival. By 1950, six months became the dividing line. 1990’s five-month babies are now happy and healthy young adults. Today there are babies prematurely born as early as four and one half months who are alive and perfectly healthy.
By 2030, we may be down to three months; by 2050 we may even be down to two months. The Bible once again has proven itself to be a book that has not only the answers to much of our difficult scientific questions but to the social ones also.