- Nicole Durrance

Some ongoing questions are “When does life start” and “What point does a fetus receive rights?” Define Life Life Cycle Scientific Culture Religious Culture Ethical Theories/Principles Laws Nurse’s Position

“the ability to grow, change, etc., that separates plants and animals from things like water or rocks, the period of time when a person is alive, [and] the experience of being alive.” “a state of living characterized by capacity for metabolism, growth, reaction to stimuli, and reproduction.” the “quality that distinguishes a vital and functional plant or animal from a dead body.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary 2013

Reproduction Women: oogenesis – making of an egg, 23 chromosomes Men: spermatogenesis- making of sperm, 23 chromosomes Fertilization Joining of male and female gametes = 46 chromosomes of DNA Gastrulation Cleavage into blastocyst: hollow ball of cells with inner fluid filled cavity Implantation onto uterus and formation of placenta Developmental states Nine months (36 weeks), split into trimesters Embryonic and fetal periods

Weeks 4 – 9 4 th week: most vulnerable, beginning of organ development 5 th week: ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm develop 6 th week: neural tube closes and heart pumping 7 th week: brain, face, hands, liver, and pancreas 8 th week: fingers, ears, eyes, and lungs

Weeks 9 – Birth 9 th week: start of period – everything developed and maturing 11 th week: called a fetus 12 th week: reflexes and human profile 13 th week: fingerprints 14 th /15 th week: sex determined 24 th week: viable 28 th week: lungs make surfactant Preterm: before 37 weeks Full term: weeks Post term: over 41 weeks

Metabolic View egg and sperm as units of life before combine together Genetic Creation of genetic individual at fertilization: creation of zygote Argument: “twinning” can occur making not genetic uniqueness Embryologic Life starts at gastrulation of embryo

Jewish Fetus does not have same status as human being Christianity Individual before fertilization Jeremiah 1: 4-5 “before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” Islam All humans have equal rights, including fetus

Plato 1 st theorist to concept human life viability Ensoulment: human soul enters the body after birth Pythagoreans Human soul made part of individual at conception Aristotle Most widely acknowledged viewpoint Early stage of pregnancy has no sensation and development of life

Roe v. Wade Woman has a right to terminate pregnancy in 1 st trimester before 24 weeks Planned Parenthood v. Casey Standard Dropped viability from 24 weeks to 22 weeks Fetal homicide law Kill fetus without women permission (women is victim of abuse) then charged with 2 nd degree fetal murder

Have the right to formally write to employer they do not want to care for women of pre or post abortion Right to refuse to counsel a patient on abortion and can refer to agency or provider that will Right to refuse to participate in voluntary termination of pregnancy, except in an emergency situation, were the patient’s needs do not allow for substitution (ANA, Provision #1)