(July 24, 2013 at 3:33 pm)fr0d0 Wrote: pineappleEmbryo, zygote, it's the difference of a few cells. You said since conception, no? That would be a zygote. Embryo goes up to 8 weeks. Anyway, fine i should've called it a zygote.
zygote not embryo. The value WE humans place on human life is an evolutionary, special (as on species), instinctual one. Our ethical considerations are not limited to sentient humans in equal measure to sentience in non human life forms. We have an inbuilt ethical duty to uphold the interest of a fellow human, for natural reasons. Our interest in special continuation.
There is no directive/ prescriptive external responsibility for this. We make our own. Every situation would require our most sensitive judgement.
To me the above is obvious and shouldn't need stating. And I really hope once more that I've answered this illusive question of yours.
Likewise, I need you to explain how you can justify detachment from your humanity. How can you consider what you know it's a potential human life worthless? How do you detach all knowledge of what you know this will become and be so cold and heartless?
It's a sensitive issue for the mother, not for anyone else. Because she's about to go through surgery and making the biggest decision of her life on whether she wants a baby or she does not. Why it concerns others is what I don't understand. Especially what you said about frozen embryos.
I'm not at all detached from my humanity. You are telling me that it's justified at this point in time to bring life into this world to a mother who does not want it, or isn't prepared to take care of it. That this would be a good thing to do, and to do this is to be in touch with your humanity? To sacrifice for something that doesn't even know what "want" means, let alone to want to be born. The only reason to justify this is to say that it's "meant to be" born. And that is not something I subscribe to.
I'm not detached from my humanity enough to think that a mother who never prepared for this, should go through with this, spend the next 20 years of her time and money on this baby (if she's lucky) and lose out on the one chance she has to fulfill her goals in life, whatever they may be. She may even die in childbirth, and many women have in places with less advance medical technology. You can argue that she may like it, but that's the thing, she very well may not. You see, I believe this is the only life we have, and I cannot bring myself to think that anyone should sacrifice so much for something like an embryo.
You brought up earlier that if my mother aborted me, I wouldn't be here now. And that's exactly it. I wouldn't be. I wouldn't have suffered, she wouldn't have suffered, nothing would've happened. That's all there is to it. there's potential, then there's actually real and happening right now. Potential doesn't triumph real, it doesn't triumph much if it requires so much sacrifice.
And frozen embryos. What's the issue here, truly? These embryos can go through IVF to give a couple a baby. Or they can be used for stem cells research and save lives. How do I disregard people's happiness and wellbeing in favour of embryos? I don't understand, it's very clear cut what is more important.
Why do I not value potential human lives? because they're potential. If the world population was dying out I'd value them very much. But we're talking about sacrificing ourselves for these potentials that will never be babies. Those frozen ones, they certainly will never all get to be a baby. Why are you so sure that they'd dislike that?
