When Does Life Begin? A New Look at an Old Question

At the heart of the abortion issue is the question: when does life begin? Some people think that life begins at conception; others think that life begins at birth, when a baby takes its first breath of air, still others think that a baby is alive when it can survive outside the mother's womb which can be as early as 23 weeks(this is fetal age, a woman would be 25 weeks pregnant at this point). In fact, the Roe v. Wade decision was based upon viability, saying that the concerns of the fetus can only take precedence over the mother's after it has developed to the point where it could be sustainable in a hospital. For those who are religious, they wonder when the soul enters the fetus, and say that at that moment, the baby is alive; the requirement for personhood is the soul and a fetus is a person when it has one.

The Roe v. Wade decision seems to say that the fetus is alive at a certain stage of development; this is when the organs are all fully formed. The latest stages of pregnancy are times for growth, not development. This is how premature babies can live; their heart and lungs are at a functioning capacity, but the weight gain and bone growth are minimal, so that when they are born, they can fit in a man's hand.

All this aside, the question of when life begins still stands. If life begins at 23 weeks, what are those prior weeks called? Merely potential? At 15 weeks, is a fetus potentially alive, but not alive yet?