An Australian Judge has ruled that conception occurs at implantation, not fertilization.
Here is the amazing story: www.lifesitenews.com
This ruling goes against all Catholic teachings. It also is not based in Science.
Maureen Condic PhD, a neurobiologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine has done extensive work on the status of the fertilized egg. It was first published as a White Paper form the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person in 2008.
She has done a remarkable job of describing, from a scientific point of view, when human life begins….and, she concludes that a human being is created at conception.
She has summarized her findings in an “amicus brief” destined to be part of the arguments in the Costa Rica case against legalizing IVF.
Here is an excerpt from her writings:
Are human zygotes human beings (i.e. human organisms)? Human embryos from the one-cell stage forward clearly have a molecular composition that is distinct from other human cells, and more importantly, they show uniquely integrated, organismal behavior that constitutes the scientific definition of a whole human being.[1] The zygote immediately and decisively enters into a complex pattern of development that is distinct from the behavior of sperm and egg and that sequentially produces all of the molecular interactions, cell types, tissues, structures and organs required for the organism as a whole to live and mature as a unique individual. In this process, it meets all of the criteria for a living human being listed above. The embryo develops continuously towards a characteristic mature human form. It repairs injuries. For example, if one cell is removed from an embryo at the 8-cell stage for prenatal genetic diagnosis, the embryo is able to repair this catastrophic injury, and continue to develop normally. Embryos are also able preserve normal development in a surprising range of artificial environments, including the laboratory dish in which “in vitro” embryos are created. Finally, even at the one-cell stage, embryos exhibit a wide range of complex molecular interactions that anticipate future requirements of the embryo as a whole. These integrated activities of the zygote can only be interpreted as components of an ongoing, organismal pattern of development that is clearly different from the behavior shown by mere human cells.
For a detailed discussion of the organismal events occurring after sperm-egg fusion, see: Condic, M.L. (2009). When does human life begin? A scientific perspective. Natl Cathol Bioeth Quart. 9(1):127-208.
The beauty of this argument is that there is no theological construct….it is just sheer biology….irrefutable. In this case, the information is placed against a fallible court system. What will the courts reconfigure next, marriage? Oh, yeah, they are already doing that…….
Servant of God, Jerome Lejeune, Pray for us!
