WHEN DOES HUMAN LIFE BEGIN? AND DOES IT MATTER?

On June 2, 2024, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, reigniting concerns about women’s bodily autonomy and legal access to abortion. Roe v. Wade implemented the trimester framework that impinges on how we define the beginning of human life. During the first trimester, the embryo develops into a fetus. The fetus is not considered medically viable outside of the maternal womb, however, until after the 23rd week of pregnancy. Unfortunately, human embryonic and fetal development is subjected to significant congenital abnormalities due to higher rates of aneuploidy, or chromosomal instability, in humans compared to all other mammals. This chromosomal aneuploidy can be prenatally screened as early as 10 weeks of gestation when the parents are currently allowed, in most of the states in the U.S., to consider abortion if they find themselves unable to medically or financially support the baby and themselves. The right to abortion was initially granted by the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 by the Supreme Court and further bolstered by successive cases. However, since the Supreme Court ruling of Gonzales v. Carhart in 2007 which found the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 constitutional, the political and legal climates have shifted and ultimately led to the current debate of whether the paramount Roe v. Wade case was valid in the first place. This review will explore the biological processes of early human development, examine the legal history of abortion, and provide both arguments from pro-life and pro-choice with regard to abortion.