# Reincarnation and Abortion July 8th 2011 What is a fetus? In Chinese, the word translates to a house that is built over a period of about one month. (Note: fetus is written in Chinese as "胎"; the left part means month and the right part means pavilion. Zygotes are less than one month old and embryos are less than two months old and neither can be called fetuses; rather, they are only fertilized eggs. Is an unfertilised egg a LIFE? Of course not! A chicken can only hatch from one which has been fertilised, only when the time is right for it to do so, and only then can we call it a LIFE. Can we call a fertilized egg a LIFE? No, because it has no self-awareness. Only those things with self-awareness can be called LIVES; otherwise, man-made mechanical devices such as trains and cars would qualify as such. The meaning of a fetus is the house that is built within one to several months and it is therefore not a LIFE, but the house for a LIFE that will come to live inside of it. On the matter of reincarnation, it is the spiritual entity namely “the soul” of a LIFE that enters into the house which is built for it. It is only when this soul of a LIFE enters into a fetus that it becomes a LIFE. When does the soul of a LIFE reincarnate? Reincarnation usually happens at about ten days before birth, while most of the process happens during the three days before birth. Many cases from examples from throughout history in different cultures prove this. The conclusion leads us to believe that fetuses in wombs can be called LIVES from only about ten days before their births, otherwise they are not LIVES, but houses waiting for new LIVES to enter. Christianity and Buddhism regard abortions as sins because they kill LIVES. Such views are wrong because they do not reflect the facts. If we take a fertilized egg or a fetus as a LIFE, then the concepts of heaven, hell, and reincarnation cannot exist because many new LIVES are born, many old ones die continuously, and one could only live for one life as a human, and this is clearly not true. Should a young girl who becomes pregnant after having sex without any knowledge and methods of contraception abort her growing embryo or fetus? Please do not preach morality here; it is useless at this time and we should only consider the ramifications of whether she should “carry to term” or not. If you do not agree that she should abort, would you be willing to be responsible for the nursing and rearing of her child? If you will not do this, but speak loudly against her abortion and say that abortion is a sin and a crime, please explain where your moral responsibility is? Lifechanyuan is the final course for human beings, everything is concluded by the final course. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://en.chanyuan8.org/life/reincarnation-and-abortion.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.