In a message dated 7/4/03 7:40:44 PM, steve@... writes:
<< I don't think a
reasonable person, for instance, wouldn't consider a single fertilized
cell to be a "person with rights" (as it's incapable of thought or
feeling, just as a single cell from an adult is) unless they attributed
to it some magical properties. >>
Steve, a fertilized cell, as you call it, decides on it's own what kind of
enzymes and proteins to produce..when to multiply and all on it's own without
the permission from the mother. Try planting "a single cell from an adult" in a
womb and see what happens. To say a fertilized human egg is "incapable of
thought or feeling, just as a single cell from an adult is" is....well...an
ignorant statement.
My position on abortion is: we need to reduce the rates by education on birth
control and encourage adoption. When the culture begins to frown on this
slaughter we can reduce it to the point that we won't have to argue about it.
Rhetoric like considering a single fertilized cell to be a "person with rights"
will not bring us closer to that goal...unless you want the slaughter to
continue.
Steve, a fertilized cell, as you call it, decides on it's own what kind of
enzymes and proteins to produce..when to multiply and all on it's own without
the permission from the mother.
So does every cell in an adult body, or a bacterium for that matter. It's possible for adult cells to grow and replicate in an appropriate medium outside the human body. Skin grafts are made this way, for example.
Try planting "a single cell from an adult" in a
womb and see what happens.
How is this relevant?
To say a fertilized human egg is "incapable of
thought or feeling, just as a single cell from an adult is" is....well...an
ignorant statement.
Why? Do you really believe thought and feeling can happen in a single cell? Can you support such a claim without resorting to the use of the supernatural(which would be inadmissible in US court)?
Rhetoric like considering a single fertilized cell to be a "person with rights"
will not bring us closer to that goal...unless you want the slaughter to
continue.
I don't consider it slaughter any more than a cut or scrape on an adult is the "slaughter" of cells. Once it has feeling(a developed and active limbic system) and some form of thought, then the word "slaughter" might be applicable.
I understand where you're coming from and think your empathy (if that is the origin of your position and not religious duty) is commendable. But I think it may be misplaced when carried to this extreme.
Cheers,
Steve
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