Bible: Life begins at first breath
Erin Nanasi
The pro-fetus brigade that is the Republican party is screaming, drooling and rabid about life beginning at conception. They get right in our face, or type at you all in caps, that GOD’S own book, the bible, says life begins at conception. Guess what? It doesn’t.
My good friend, Sheila, is smart, wise, funny and driven to expose lies on the right. She gave me a bit of an internet slap in the face a few days ago when she reminded me of a little passage in Genesis about the breath of life. The passage reads that God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being.”
The bible actually has quite a lot to say on the subject of the breath of life. Here are a few more passages that illustrate when life begins.
Job 33:4-“The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”
Ezekiel 37: 5&6- “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I shall lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
And here’s a little gem about causing a miscarriage:
Exodus 21:22- “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and *yet no mischief follows: he shall surely be punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
*Other translations write this as no harm comes to the mother.
According to the bible, life begins when the first breath is drawn. According to Exodus 21:22, if a man hurts a woman, causing her to miscarry, the punishment is not the same as if a man murders another man. Also in Exodus 21:22 it says “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies must be put to death.”
The punishment for murder is much different than the punishment for causing a miscarriage in the bible. So, why does the pro-fetus brigade believe life begins at conception, when their own holy book says quite the opposite? Why is abortion murder, when their own book punishes a person who causes a woman to miscarry with a veritable slap on the wrist?
One thing I have been told is that a fetus breathes while in the womb. Um, no it doesn’t actually. While in the womb, a fetus receives oxygen from the umbilical cord, and the first breath is not taken until birth. You know how the OBGYN makes the newborn cry? That’s usually the first breath. While floating in amniotic fluid, the fetus does not breathe. It’s liquid.
We see billboards all over our county that read “My heart beat 17 days after conception!” and “I can dream!” First, a fetal heartbeat cannot be detected until, at the earliest, 5 ½-6 ½ weeks after conception, and only via ultrasound. Second, “directly measuring the brain activity of a human fetus in the womb is impossible” according to an article at Science Daily.com. Researchers have noted REM-like stages, but to actually measure dreams is not possible.
Huh. The bible says life begins with “breath,” the first breath is taken AFTER being born, fetal heartbeats are detected much later than the pro-fetus brigade claims and it’s impossible to measure the brain activity of a human fetus in the womb. It seems, at least to this pro-choice mother, that the pro-fetus brigade has absolutely no frigging idea what they’re talking about.
Thanks to Joe Schwartz.net. Science Daily.com, The Mayo Clinic website, Open Bible.info, Med Help.org and Sheila F.W for contributions and my Internet slap.
http://madmikesamerica.com/2012/05/bible-life-begins-at-first-breath/
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