Beginning of Human Life
The point at which religious ensoulment or PERSONHOOD is considered to begin.
Personhood
The state or condition of being a human individual accorded moral and/or legal rights. Criteria to be used to determine this status are subject to debate, and range from the requirement of simply being a human organism to such requirements as that the individual be self-aware and capable of rational thought and moral agency.
Judaism
Human Characteristics
Life
The state that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter, manifested by growth, metabolism, reproduction, and adaptation. It includes the course of existence, the sum of experiences, the mode of existing, or the fact of being. Over the centuries inquiries into the nature of life have crossed the boundaries from philosophy to biology, forensic medicine, anthropology, etc., in creative as well as scientific literature. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed; Dr. James H. Cassedy, NLM History of Medicine Division)
Human Development
Bioethical Issues
Ethical Theory
Philosophy, Medical
Longevity
The normal length of time of an organism's life.
Quality of Life
A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.
Ethics, Medical
Pregnancy Reduction, Multifetal
Selective abortion of one or more embryos or fetuses in a multiple gestation pregnancy. The usual goal is to improve the outcome for the remaining embryos or fetuses.
Embryo Research
Experimentation on, or using the organs or tissues from, a human or other mammalian conceptus during the prenatal stage of development that is characterized by rapid morphological changes and the differentiation of basic structures. In humans, this includes the period from the time of fertilization to the end of the eighth week after fertilization.