
The issue of abortion is one that can't be separated from the question of when life begins. That leaves the question...
When did you start to matter?
Do you matter now? At whatever age you are, are you important? Do you have rights?
What about when you learned to talk or learned to walk? Did you matter then?
  
Did you matter when you were born? Did you matter just after that? Did you matter just before?
(1)
(1) (8 months after conception)
Did you matter when it became possible for you to survive outside the womb? What about when you could reconize your mother's voice? (both about 18 weeks after conception)
(1)(20 weeks after conception)
(2)(4 months after conception)
Did you matter when you started kicking inside your mother's womb? (12 weeks after conception, but mother can't feel it yet)
(2)(12 weeks after conception)
(2)(12 weeks after conception)
Did you matter when started feeling pain, when you could suck your thumb, and when you first were able to cry (although only silently)? Did you matter when you started bending your finger around objects near you? (all around 10 weeks after conception)
(2)(11 weeks after conception)
(2)(7 weeks after conception)
Did you matter when you first had detectable brain waves? (about 43 days after conception)
(1)(6 weeks after conception)
(1)(5 weeks after conception)
Did you matter 21 days after conception when your heart began pumping blood throughout your body?
(1)(2 weeks after conception)
Did you matter at conception? Did you start to matter when you became a unique individual, when you started to grow and develop on your own? Did you start to matter when suddenly, all that would ever again be added to you was food, fluids, and oxygen (and possibly an organ implant or other medical addition)? Aren't those the same things you still use to this day?
(1)(30 hours after conception)
PLEASE NOTE: This table is approximate, not exact. Many sites offer somewhat varying points during pregnancy when these events occur (although the difference isn't usually substantial). Also, many sites list events from the first day of the mother's last menstrual cycle, not from conception. That means that, for those sites, conception is listed as occurring 2 weeks into pregnancy and does not mark the beginning of new life.
Picture Sources: Pictures with a 2 next to them come from Priest for Life: http://www.priestsforlife.org. December 13th, 2005. Informational sources: Westside Pregnancy Resource Center: http://www.wprc.org/. December 13th, 2005. Abortion Facts: http://www.abortionfacts.com/literature/literature_921ms.asp. December 13th, 2005.
Ohio Right to Life: http://www.ohiolife.org/searchengine/details.asp?ID=10035. December 15th, 2005.
Picture with a 1 next to them come from Westside Pregnancy Resource Center: http://www.wprc.org/. December 13th, 2005.