By Denise J. Hunnell, MD
Catholic Stand
Part of the strategy of abortion advocates is to cloud the starting point of life so that the act of abortion is seen as inconsequential as removing a wart. Before the routine use of prenatal ultrasounds it was easy to say abortion was just getting rid of a “clump of cells” or a “blob of tissue”. Now that ultrasound technology has given us a window into the womb those terms seem ludicrous. A mere clump or blob does not have a beating heart and fingers and toes.
But what about earlier in gestation when the nascent being is hidden from the ultrasound? Is there life?
In the recently-argued Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the government asserted that birth control methods which interfere with implantation shouldn’t be considered abortifacients or abortion-inducing drugs. Although conception takes place a full week prior to implantation, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) defines pregnancy as beginning with the embryo’s implantation into the uterine lining; prior to successful implantation, the government claimed, there’s no pregnancy to be aborted.
The response from the plaintiffs was to show a stack of textbooks from prestigious universities around the United States. Each of these texts clearly stated that life begins at conception. Who is right?
Denise's vocation is being a wife, mother, and grandmother. Her occupation has wound its way through being a practicing family physician to studying Catholic health care ethics to writing and teaching about all things Catholic. She is a fellow with Human Life International and regularly contributes to the HLI Truth & Charity Forum. She also writes a monthly column for Zenit.org. She and her husband John have been married for thirty years and have lived all over the United States, courtesy of John's Air Force career. They are now settled in the suburbs of Northern Virginia and blessed with four children and two grandchildren (so far).
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