If we go back into time, to the ancient world, before there was modern science, most of what happened inside the womb was a mystery. People understood how sex would and could lead to pregnancy. However, there was a gap in understanding after conception, since the forming child was in the darkness of the womb and tampering in the darkness, could end the child development. Getting hit while pregnant, could have an impact on the end result, so there were rules about tampering.
Once a child was born, the phenomena of life was in the light of observation and easier to see and understand further patterns of development. The tradition that that life appears at birth, is a very old wife's tale, due to lack of scientific understanding in ancient times. If you cannot see it or understand it; like it used to be with germs, it is not there. The ancients did not have the modern tools that now allows us to observe without tampering; ultrasound.
Modern Science, which is secular, defines life in a more complete way with fetal development part of life;
Life is defined as any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing, excreting, breathing, moving, growing, reproducing, and responding to external stimuli.
The forming unborn are alive, by this definition, since most of the criteria for life apply to the unborn, at various levels, since life is evident down to its single cells. The unborn eat, kick and will respond to medical tools trying to get them. A female will start producing eggs 9 weeks after conception. Technicality, the capacity to reproduce an entire human starts at 9 weeks.
The abortionists are attempting to impose an old religious superstition onto modern society, using a conventions from a time when science was not yet developed enough to define life in science terms. This is no different from modern science saying the earth is round, by observation data, but some wish to think it is flat. The Left is in the dark for one of the third phases; conception, development, and birth, and use a flatliner approach; conception,???, birth or conception,???, abortion; 2-D instead of 3-D.
The government needs to stay out of this, since it cannot impose an old superstition religion. The Left has a right to their superstition; religious freedom, but we need to teach science in school. Science also needs to speak up and not bow down out of fear to these religious fanatic, who impose scientific misinformation.