In this essay I will approach the issue of abortion from a perspective all-too-seldom taken; a factual one. I will shun all abstract moral constructs and unprovable propositions such as the existence of a soul in a fertilized ovum. I will address the question of when human life begins, in the sense of personhood rather than potential, with reference to the most current scientific data available on the subject.
A discussion of abortion based on biological facts is often unpleasant for the so-called pro-life forces. For instance, their loud accusations that abortion causes long-term physical and psychological damage to women have been ironically silenced by one of their staunchest advocates. Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, after refusing to release his report on the effects of abortion for 2 years, was finally forced to make public his findings that the physical risks of abortion are very low and that he could find no evidence to support the existence of a "post-abortion syndrome."
A recent interview with noted embryologist Clifford Grobstein examined in detail the question of when the life of an individual begins. Grobstein has been studying prenatal development for the last 40 years and is currently professor emeritus of biological science and public policy at the University of California at San Diego.
Grobstein says we must first define what we mean by the term "individual." He argues that there are six components to full human individuality and that only one of these, genetic individuality, is present at conception. Genetic individuality refers to the existence of a specific set of hereditary properties resulting from the combination of the mother's and father's DNA. The other five essential aspects of individuality are developmental, functional, behavioral, psychic, and social individuality. These aspects emerge one at a time over the course of the pregnancy, with the exception of social individuality whic...