(June 20, 2014 at 8:58 am)JuliaL Wrote: Sorry if I wasn't clear. The argument here, as far as I can tell, is over the definition of personhood and when it is morally and/or legally allowed to kill a person. It has not been challenged that it is morally and/or legally impermissible to kill a living non-person. There is also confusion between what is a person and what is a 'human being.' I'm going to use these terms interchangeably and reserve the term 'human tissue' for flesh which has a complete human genome but is not a person.
The definition I've seen here used by Arthur123 is incorporated in the claim that the fertilized egg is a human being. Justification for this claim appears to lie in the property of that egg to potentially develop into a person/human being if properly cared for.
Quote:Both sperm and egg are not human beings, and neither are isolated human cells. Arthur is defending the rights of human beings.
My contra-example question revolves around whether or not it is permissible to terminate the tissue in, for example, his inner cheek which, if properly cared for, can potentially develop into a person/human through the technical process of cloning. As an 'isolated human cell' it shares the same potential as the fertilized egg and I question why it is not afforded the same legal and/or moral rights.
I hope this clarifies. In return, could you please explain further your claim that
Quote:The zygote is a human being according to science.Your use of the phrase 'according to science,' is pretty vague.
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I think personhood is a whole other subject. it confuses the issue here. I know the pro life brigade use it to leverage the legal argument.
Legally you can't murder a person. You can kill a human being. Abortion being one example. Arthurs stance is that all human killing is immoral.
There are scientific journals etc that endorse the idea that zygotes are human beings. I've linked them before and have neither time nor inclination right now to dig them out.
I hate the 'human cell is a potential human' argument. Your caveat of living human is good. Zygotes are actual living humans. Human cells are living human tissue. Never, no way, ever ever are human cells human beings. Just like human sperm and human eggs are not living human beings. They may contain the information to create a living human, but there's no 'life' to be taken.