I’ve been thinking about the constitution as well as the abortion ban lately, and it occurred to me that the literal definition of life is not really applicable to some of the main arguments against abortion. When you search the definition of life, the first definition is “The property or quality that distinguishes living organisms from dead organisms and inanimate matter, manifested in functions such as metabolism, growth, reproduction, and response to stimuli or adaptation to the environment originating from within the organism.” However, another definition for life is “The interval of time between one’s birth and the present,” as well as “The physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence.” These are all a part of the same definition from the same dictionary (The American Heritage, 5th edition).
Does life begin at the conception of the child? Does it begin when the child is born? Does the child count as another human being when still in the embryo stage?
My faith is Islam and teaches that the foetus is merely a lump of flesh until the 120-day stage, when an Angel breathes a soul into it.
“Each one of you is constituted in the womb of the mother for forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched. Then the soul is breathed into him…” (Sahih al-Bukhari: 3036).
So, once Week #18 begins (2nd Trimester = Week #13 - #27), abortion is taking a life. It can be acceptable in my faith in very few situations e.g. if the life of the mother is threatened by the impending childbirth e.g. some dangerous obstruction or tanglement.
I see. So (just for clarification), the child is deemed a living thing once it has a soul?
Would that mean that to count as alive, one would need a soul? If that’s the case, then what about plants?
Correct, to be alive in the sense of consciousness, in the sense of abortion being a grave issue due to consciousness, it must have a soul.
The entire universe is alive in one way or another, but not with a soul. Animals have spirit. I don’t know what plants have but even stones worship God in some form, but they don’t have a consciousness as we know it, it’s a mystery to me.
That is very interesting, and I’ll definitely look more into this when I have the chance. Thank you!
Welcome! 
By the way, l’ve always considered G, the universal gravitational constant, to be the love and worship all creation, even inanimate objects, has for God because love, like gravity, is a subtle force with far reaching visible results. It is attraction and l see it as the cipher of cosmic love between creator and creation. Just my slant on it!
If we survive the body and can get new bodies, conception begins in the unchanging will of God.