When several large bills come through the post together ?

Quoting rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]>:

> Medical Controversy - When Does Life Begin?
> May 10, 2009 | By Sajid Surve, DOcloseSajid Surve, DO Name: Sajid Surve
> Site: http://brainblogger.com
> 
> About: Dr. Sajid Surve is a physiatrist, acupuncturist, and osteopath who 
> specializes in musculoskeletal medicine and integrative medicine. |
> 
> One of the most contested questions in history is a seemingly simple one: 
> When does life begin? Different cultures and societies have battled to 
> answer this question, and to date no consensus has been reached. Of course, 
> the answer to this question has profound ethical, legal, moral, and 
> philosophical implications. As the United States debates the merits and 
> pitfalls of topics like embryonic stem cell research and abortion, the 
> arguments for the beginnings of life have found themselves renewed. Along 
> the timeline from preconception through birth and beyond, there are several 
> stops where one group or another has drawn a line in the sand and proclaimed
> 
> that life has officially begun. In the interest of providing some clarity on
> 
> this issue, let us examine the rationale behind why these groups picked 
> their points. As a reference, a textbook on developmental biology will 
> provide some framework.
> 
> Preconception
> The earliest stopping point is held by many members of the Catholic Church, 
> with their proclamation that "every sperm is sacred." The held rationale is 
> that every sperm has the possibility to fertilize an egg, become implanted, 
> and eventually grow into a human being. Since God's charge is to go forth 
> and procreate, any type of hindrance to that process such as the use of 
> condoms or birth control pills are interfering with God's plan and therefore
> 
> not allowed.
> 
> Conception
> The greater religious community generally view the "moment of conception" as
> 
> the standard for when life begins. However, the definition of conception is 
> subject to variability. Some take the word conception to actually mean the 
> act of ejaculation. Others consider conception to be the process of 
> fertilization. Still others consider the fusion of genetic material into a 
> new set of chromosomes to be meant by conception. The problem with any of 
> these definitions is that the process is not instantaneous. From the time of
> 
> ejaculation, sperm take 7 hours before they become active and able to 
> fertilize an egg. Once the sperm meets the egg, a chemical cascade begins 
> and the sperm begins to bore its way through the egg, which may take up to 
> an hour. Once the sperm actually enters the egg, it's another 12 hours 
> before the sperm DNA makes its way to the egg's DNA, and then another 24 
> hours for the restructuring and packaging process of new chromosomes. All 
> told, the "moment of conception" could take anywhere from 2-3 days to 
> complete.
> 
> Gastrulation
> Another argument that is raised against the "moment of conception" line of 
> thinking is the twinning argument. Once the genetic material is completely 
> packaged together, a new individual is created. However, for as long as 
> 12-14 days afterward, the embryo can split into twins or more multiples. 
> That process would create more than one individual with identical genetic 
> material from the same moment of conception. To account for this 
> discrepancy, some argue that life begins at gastrulation, which is when the 
> window has closed, the embryo has implanted in the uterus, and is now 
> committed to grow into one human being. Supporters of this theory would 
> therefore support stem cell research, which harvests embryos that have 
> neither the intention nor ability to be implanted into a uterus.
> 
> Week 8
> The eighth week of pregnancy is a special one, because at this point the 
> precursors to all organs have been formed. Philosophers therefore argue that
> 
> with the beginnings of a brain, the fetus now has the ability to think and 
> react, and that marks the onset of life. Opponents argue that the 
> rudimentary nervous system is not functional at 8 weeks, and the fetus 
> cannot process information or move in response to a stimulus, therefore not 
> making the fetus alive.
> 
> Quickening
> Those same groups which argue against the week 8 model suggest that life 
> begins with the "quickening," which is when the fetus begins to exhibit 
> voluntary movement inside the womb, usually around 14-16 weeks. At this 
> point the fetus is able to react to external stimuli, which is held as the 
> standard for life.
> 
> Week 20
> Although the fetus can move at week 14, the movements are little more than 
> jerky reflexes. They are not driven by higher cortical functioning. 
> Therefore, another school of thought is that life begins at week 20, when 
> the thalamus is completely formed. The thalamus is the relay center of the 
> brain, and helps to connect the cerebral cortex to the spinal cord and 
> peripheral nerves.
> 
> Week 25
> A sizable contingent would assert that life begins at 25 weeks. The 
> rationale for this starting point is based on our definition of death. The 
> definition of death is not disputed, and is considered the time when 
> electroencephalography (EEG) activity ceases. EEG measures brain activity 
> and must demonstrate regular wave patterns to be considered valid. 
> Therefore, by this rule the onset of life would be the time when fetal brain
> 
> activity begins to exhibit regular wave patterns, which occurs fairly 
> consistently around week 25. Previous to that time, the EEG only shows small
> 
> bursts of activity without sustained firing of neurons.
> 
> Birth
> Perhaps the second-most frequently held conviction is that life begins at 
> the time of child birth. In Jewish Talmudic Law, for example, the writing 
> states that once the head of the child is delivered it cannot be touched and
> 
> is granted equal rights to life as the mother. Other religious groups 
> maintain that the soul is delivered to the newborn with their first breath 
> of air.
> 
> Self-consciousness
> A minor group of philosophers maintain that the criterion for human life is 
> self-consciousness, or self-awareness, which does not occur until well into 
> childhood. This group believes that abortion is morally equivalent to 
> infanticide, and that both are condonable under certain circumstances. Their
> 
> viewpoint is extreme, and has generally been rejected by mainstream 
> ethicists and theologians.
> 
> While this accounting is by no means comprehensive, and perhaps 
> oversimplifies some concepts for the purpose of clarity, let it serve as a 
> starting point for obtaining more information. With debate on this topic 
> wide open, and no clear answers in sight, the best hope is to understand all
> 
> viewpoints and draw an informed conclusion as to when life begins.
> 
> Reference
> Gilbert, Scott F. DevBio, a Companion to Developmental Biology, Eighth 
> Edition. Sinauer Associates Inc., March 2006. Chapter 2, subsection 1.
> 
> Rayilyn Brown
> Director AZNPF
> Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
> [log in to unmask] 
> 
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