“Moreover, the Vatican idea that human life begins with conception is an attempt to override the biblical idea that human life begins with breathing. The Hebrew word that describes a human being is naphesh– the breathing one. It occurs 775 times in the Hebrew Bible. It is obvious that in Hebrew thought a fetus is not a living human being because it does not breathe on its own.
Pro-life groups mistakenly apply one of the 10 Commandments – “you shall not kill” – to a fetus… It is desperation that makes “pro-lifers” apply the commandment to an embryo or fetus because there is no explicit reference in the entire Bible that is antiabortion or pro-life with respect to a fetus.”
John M Swomley, ordained United Methodist minister
John M Swomley Compulsory Pregnancy: the War against American Women (Amherst, New York: Humanist Press, 1999) 85 – 86
According to Swomley, this peborn baby is not alive because although he has been breathing amniotic fluid since the 11th week, he is not breathing air.
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