The behavior of the zygote is radically unlike that of the sperm or egg separately and is characteristic of a human organism. Thus, the scientific evidence supports the conclusion that a zygote is a human organism and that the life of a new human being commences at the moment of conception " (Condic, 11). Even though at conception or even in the first trimester the new life of a human being is not fully developed, human development is a continuing process. "There is no endpoint to the building of a human being " (Condic, 24). Since syngamy (the sexual reproduction by union of gametes: fertilization (Merriam-Webster dictionary)) is considered the beginning of human life and there is no end point in the developmental process I believe that once this new cell has started to develop and since it will never stop dividing and replicating, stopping this process once it has begun is murder. This is one of the reasons why I feel abortion is morally wrong. I see no difference in purposely ending someone's life from the moment of conception versus any time after a human takes their first breath.
The reason women choose to have an abortion ranges for a variety of different reasons: poverty, age, self-image, to prevent birth defects, or physical harm that will come from carrying the baby to full term. According to a study done from 2008 to the end of 2010, "the most prevailing common factor is poverty, with six out of ten abortions occurring among those with incomes below $28,000 per year for a family of three " (Carter, 74). This study was drawn from the baseline quantitative data from the Tunaway study. 40% of the reasons women gave for aborting their pregnancy was because they were "not financially prepared " (BMC Womens health). Truly, I do not think anyone will ever be prepared for having a child financially. Although it is an easier burden for those with 5-figure salaries, it is still expensive.
