Pro abortion or not

[Esquilax]

I think personhood begins when the two genomes from parents mix.

Let's assume this to be true, and let's therefore give the fetus every right that a human being has, from that moment forth. Under those premises, abortions are still entirely consistent.

Let me ask you, if you were dying of something, do you have the right to hold another person captive and use them, in any medical capacity, to sustain your life against their will?

The answer is an unequivocal no: you could be on the brink of death and you'd still have no right to use anyone else as a bank of functioning organs. So why would we afford that right to a fetus, even if we accept that they're human?

I also don't understand (Esquilax) how you could dismiss these so easily as just 'bundles of cells'. You were all these little bundles, once.

Yes, we were. And then our mothers consented for us to grow and develop to the stage where we became people. The argument you've just made applies equally to my toenails or hair. For the longest time, the little zygote has no organs, no brain, no nervous system, nothing that could support a consciousness or a personality... they are, for all intents and purposes, a bundle of cells. Where's the cost in getting rid of that if it's not wanted? You might be tempted to say it's in the potential life there, but I'd remind you that nobody applies that logic consistently; you aren't saying I should never jack off for that reason, and you should never ovulate. That logic, dearest, means no blowjobs or protected sex.

Not to mention, this appeal to the past that you've used... it's not very compelling, is it? What I used to be doesn't entail some form of preferred state of being, after all.