First, let us get it clear: Human life begins not with birth but with the fertilized egg. As soon as the sperm inserts itself into the egg, there is a new human being in existence. He, not it, is very young, incapable of entering into contracts, and does not even look at all like the rest of us, for example, those reading this present essay. But he is as much of a rights-bearing person as anyone else on the planet.

There are only two other theories available that are alternatives to this one. First, birth. No, human life does not begin at that point. That is merely a slight change of geographical address and a very slight one, to boot. It constitutes only a move, just a few inches from inside the woman’s body to outside of it, and in her arms. That youngster changes no more from 10 minutes before birth to 10 minutes after, than you and I in any 20-minute span of time. Birth schmerth. Killing a baby one hour or one day before birth constitutes the murder of a very young human being.