Decades of legislation are currently being overturned in the US, creating a seismic shift in an era defined by female emancipation and the right to choose regarding abortion. The difficulty is compounded when we consider spiritual and philosophical beliefs e.g. the existence of the soul and how or if it connects in pregnancy. An atheist perspective absolves us of any such concern, the mothers freedom to choose being paramount; a belief in the possible existence of the soul however changes the dynamics. For anyone faced with what can seem an impossible decision it is a comfort to know that while elective abortion terminates the potential for life, it can not terminate the soul which must by definition return to its origins, perhaps to await a further opportunity.
Attempting to define the status of the embryo in pregnancy has long presented a moral challenge, for outcome dictates not only the moral and legal position governing elective abortion but the parameters concerning embryo research and medical ethics. All religions acknowledge the existence of the soul as the spirit or essence which survives the body at death with general agreement that elective abortion is wrong except to save the life of the mother. There is however disagreement concerning the point at which the soul may connect during pregnancy, further complicating the decision. Medical science is unable to assist us for scientific and religious perspectives will inevitably be at variance regarding the nature of spirit and matter, or even the existence of the soul. A metaphysical understanding of consciousness based upon ancient sacred traditions can contribute to the debate, helping us make an informed choice.
For many, soul consciousness defines the human being and the basic right to life. Some religions link this event with conception while most consider that this occurs at a later date. A distinction is generally made between two stages of development, pre-embryonic i.e. an unformed embryo and embryonic denoting a formed one. For centuries the termination of a pregnancy at an early stage carried lesser legal penalties than a later one, corresponding with the view that the human soul did not enter until the second stage of embryonic development. Rape, incest and congenital birth defects are further complicating factors in approving abortion with wide variation in interpretation and it must be said a degree of religous ambiguity.
- Catholicism is perhaps the religion most vehemently opposed to abortion, stating that the soul enters at conception creating a human being and abortion is therefore considered murder. The life of the mother and the foetus are equally regarded. ‘Indirect abortion’ (e.g. surgery due to ectopic pregnancy, or cancer of the womb requiring hysterectomy) is however permitted if the mothers life is threatened, because ‘the intention is ‘not to kill the foetus’ even though this occurs.
- Sacred Hindu texts emphasise Ahimsa – respect for life. Abortion is not permitted other than to save the life of the mother. Culturally however abortion, including infanticide is widely practised as a result of the common preference for male babies.
- All schools of Muslim law oppose abortion but it is permitted if continuing the pregnancy would put the mother’s life in real danger. This is the only reason accepted for abortion after 120 days (4 months) which is considered to be the point at which the soul has connected.
- Judaism opposes abortion in general but permits it where the pregnancy endangers the mothers life. The foetus is not considered to have the status of a person but is believed to be linked to the soul during pregnancy.
- Buddhism traditionally teaches that human life begins at conception and rejects abortion as the taking of a life. Adherents are counselled to make compassionate decisions for all concerned and to accept accountability for their actions in circumventing the journey of a soul.
DEFINING THE EMBRYO: Determining the point at which human life begins, in order to decide the status of the embryo and its right to life is a matter of morals and conscience for unquestionably the embryo is alive following fertilisation… but is the embryo human? This is a religious and philosophical concern as well as a scientific one. The Ethics Committee of the American Fertility Society defines an embryo as distinct from a pre-embryo. According to that report and the UK Warnock Report, which lay behind the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, the pre-embryo stage is considered to last until 14 days after fertilisation. Legislation currently rests on the basis of these reports but is under review. Laboratory embryos can be produced or disposed of up to 14 days of cell development i.e. until the formation of the beginning of the nervous system.
The developmental stages of pregnancy are as follows:
- Conception: The sperm and ovum exist independently of each other, conception occurring in the fallopian tube when the sperm fertilises the ovum.
- Zygote: A zygote is a a single-celled organism resulting from a fertilised egg carrying genes from both parents. The egg remains a single cell for 12 hours after conception, dividing into two after 30 hours. Some 15 hours later the two divide to become 4.
- Morula: At the end of 3 days the fertilised egg has become a berry like structure of 16 -32 cells referred to as a morula (Latin for mulberry) In legend the mulberry is considered to be the link between heaven and earth.
- Blastocyst: It takes about five to six days for a zygote to transform into a blastocyst, biological material the size of a pinhead which contains human DNA. Cell division continues during the 8 or 9 days after conception, in this period it is wafted down the fallopian tube to where it implants in the inner lining of the uterus.
- Embryo: At about 10 – 12 days the blastocyst develops into an embryo, the early stage of human development in which organs and critical body structures are formed. The embryonic period is 2-8 weeks after fertilisation. The inner group of cells will become the embryo, the outer group become the cells which will nourish and protect it.
- Foetus: The embryo becomes a foetus from 9 weeks up to birth which occurs at 40 weeks.A knowledge of the nature of cells and the exact timing of development is critical if we are to avoid terminating the lives of what may be considered actual “human persons”, whether by elective abortion or embryo research. The type and availability of cells determines research possibilities. Totipotent embryonic cells occur within the first couple of cell divisions following fertilisation, these are the only cells capable of forming all cell types including extra embryonic tissue of placental and yolk sac. These are the cell types used in IVF. Embryonic stem (ES) cells are derived from the inner cell mass of blastocysts prior to implantation and may open new avenues for medical treatment of otherwise incurable diseases. Removal of ES cells however kills the embryo in the process.
SPIRIT AND MATTER
Science postulates that all matter is composed of atoms which are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons and still finer components, until we attain to ether. The human body is impermanent, composed of atoms and molecules and therefore subject to the laws of the physical universe, disintegrating at death. The position of science is that there is no empirical evidence for the soul.
Sacred texts which precede the scientific age by thousands of years, describe the origins of mankind. The Vedas speak of the Hindu Trinity of Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer. The Torah, the Bible and the Quran, speak of the Creation of humankind created by ‘Elohim’ variously interpreted as singular ‘God’ or plural ‘gods’. Mankind is described as ‘made in our image’ and therefore deemed to be an aspect of the divine, having a soul which returns to its origins.
Metaphysics, the branch of philosophy which studies 1st principles and the nature of reality describes how consciousness originates as spirit in the etheric dimension with physical incarnation occurring as a process of downward causation i.e. spirit to matter. Soul consciousness having mental and sensory components maintains connection to the developing embryo via an energetic, pulsating ‘silver cord’ infusing the embryo with prana or chi, the vital life force. This is a counterpart to the physical umbilical cord which connects the mother and child throughout pregnancy. This energetic aspect maintains connection to higher consciousness sometimes referred to as the Higher Self. The point of connection is the crown of the head at the Sahasrāra Chakra, located beneath the fontanelle, visible in a new-born child. This ‘soft spot’ on the babies head is recognised medically as allowing passage of the baby’s head at birth, closing between 9 and 18 months.
At birth the etheric body and the physical body remain connected. Just as the physical umbilical cord is cut at birth to allow independence, at death the energetic body separates slowly from the physical body irreversibly severing the energetic cord at which point consciousness returns to its origins.
Science too readily dismisses sacred text as unworthy of examination… a fragment of superstitious beliefs now outgrown. This archive holds the coded text which provides protection from profane knowledge which has not yet acquired wisdom, only lately being rediscovered by the intellectual community.
THE BIBLE DESCRIBES THE CREATION OF ADAM AND EVE FROM ‘THE DUST OF THE EARTH WHILE THE ‘Q’URAN DESCRIBES THE CREATION OF MANKIND IN DETAIL WHICH ACCORDS WITH EMBRYONIC ANATOMY.
“We made out of the “embryo” bones, and clothed the bones in “muscles” (23:14). This statement meets the medical anatomical definition of bones forming first as cartilage at the 7th week with muscles developing around them from the somatic mesoderm at the 8th week of development. The verse continues: “Then We developed out of it another creature”. This implies that the bones and muscles result in the formation of “another creature”. We might propose that this is the stage at the end of the 8th week when the human embryo is called a foetus with distinctive human characteristics, possessing primordial internal and external organs and parts. Significantly the Creator initially refers to the embryo as “it” (23:1; 32:9) denoting the status as only “a thing” or a cell cluster but calls the foetus “you” after ensoulment (32:9) This would seem to suggest that the human person as an individual living organism would begin only when the embryo develops into a foetus at around the 9th week of development (after the 57th day). This is after the bones and muscles form but before the development of hearing and sight when we have a multi-cellular organism rather than the blastocyst which is a mass of living cells. (The Q’uran was revealed 609-632)
BREATH OF GOD – Entry point of the Soul
The soul which is non physical requires a foundation of matter in order for fusion to take place. There is agreement between Judaism, Christianity and Islam that this comes about through the ‘Breath of God’. The Hebrew word “adam” is derived from the word “adamah” (meaning “earth”) the body is created from earth, the soul from the essence of God and therefore of a much higher order. The Old Testament (Torah) (Genesis-Bereishith 2:7, 7:22), states that the life is infused into the human being through the nose. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”
The olfactory system is the oldest system known to mankind, it consists of the nose and nasal cavities and links to the limbic system which governs memory and hormonal, and autonomic control.
- The vomeronasal organ (VNO) appears in the 6th week of human development as a tubular structure located at the base of the nasal septum, it connects with the brain via the ethmoid bone in the upper nasal cavity. Nerve fibres of VNO cells pass through a tiny opening transmitting biochemical information to the limbic system in the brain. VNO development in the human embryo only becomes functional between the 6th and 13th week when receptor cells transmit biochemical information to the limbic system.
- The VNO is said to be the place in the body where the nervous system is closest to the external world providing an interface, a sensory signalling system which explains the visceral response to significant events beyond the body. This area is described in sacred literature as ‘the seat of the soul’ and demonstrates the connection to gnosis, i.e. revealed knowledge.
- Research into the limbic system has shown that activation of the amygdala, hippocampus, pituitary and pineal glands are associated with memory and religious, spiritual, and mystical states. Brain scans now demonstrate that the area surrounding the pineal gland is activated during meditation.
Breathing is the priority for life: 1st Responders are taught that the airway is given priority even over cardio pulmonary arrest or haemorrhage. From the 13th week following conception respiratory epithelium develops to form the lining of the trachea and the upper respiratory tract. Electrical signals from the brain then direct the diaphragm and chest muscles to contract, referred to medically as ‘practice breathing’.This is the primitive apparatus which will eventually allow the foetus to breath independently at birth.
The most significant role of olfactory signals in humans appears to be the modulation of behaviour in interpersonal relationship. Ancient breathing techniques long employed by Hindu yogis focus upon the left and right nostrils independently to infuse prana the life force, into the body. Individual nostril breathing stimulates the olfactory epithelium, triggering electrical signals to the brain via nadis, a system of subtle energy channels. The central nadi ends at the point between the nostrils where the nasal septum joins the upper lip.This method is increasingly incorporated into yoga and mindfulness programmes to promote balance and harmony.
AT WHAT POINT IS THE UNBORN CHILD ENDOWED WITH SOUL?
An estimated ten to 20% of all known pregnancies end in miscarriage, most occurring by 8 weeks, often even before the mother is aware of a pregnancy. If the soul is fixed at conception this would suggest an enormous number of failed incarnations, coupled with an ineffective process, something nature seeks to minimise. The implication is that fusion of the soul with the embryo takes effect only when the biological processes have produced a matrix of matter as a stable foundation.
The VNO connections with the brain occur only between the 6th and 13th weeks of human development, the 9th week being the mid point – a potential window for the soul and the etheric body to fuse after 56 days, the end of the embryonic 8 week stage. At 9 weeks the embryo is defined medically as a foetus with distinctive human characteristics, possessing the primordial internal and external organs and parts.
As the debate becomes ever more polarised an informed choice can assist those faced with a life changing choice.
See full article: Academia: ‘Body, Soul and Identity’