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Previous comments... You are currently on page 3.
I am not a zygote. Me and a zygote are a human being and a cell, not "we".
You have your work cut out for you to prove the a single cell is the same as a human, and then a bigger effort to then distinguish the single cell from an animal.
There is no society without "we" and agreed upon commitments to each other. Anyone who wishes can go off and live in the wilderness and be a government and people of one. They can manage themselves - or not - according to any rationale they choose. But as soon as you get two or more people together, they must establish ground rules of acceptable action toward each other. And for that to happen, each individual involved has to identify and respect the innate and inherent worth of the other individual regardless of any trait or condition. They may not make as much money. They may choose a different occupation to us. They may choose to have a different ideology or political view. But as soon as we start denigrating another individual's base value and identification as a member of the human race, all notions of equality and human rights fly out the window.
Everything devolves into "survival of the fittest" and the government mentality of "might makes right." Any action at all becomes justifiable. One can not derive equality under the law from such a standpoint. Laws againts rape and incest rely upon what? The dignity and equal rights of a woman with a man. Laws against theft similarly rely upon a respect for/acknowledgement of the other individual's right to personal property. Go down the list and every single legal precedent falls when one disavows the equality of the individual. Anarchy reigns. Tyranny rules.
I'm not even engaging in a discussion on the sentience of a single cell. That is simply religion.
If we can get to the point where we all agree
1. a zygote is not a human being. That is religion, and expressly excluded.
2. that the woman bears the burden, and should have the right to choose, but
3. she shouldn't kill a human;
4. and have a real discussion about when a fetus becomes a human being
Then there can be progress. Until then, religion is arguing with a secular "religion" and no progress can be made because no thinking is involved.
I'm sure you are aware religious people would be quick to point out man has a "soul", but one doesn't need a religious argument to point out sentience to the degree humans possess it is a significant separator from the animal kingdom.
Lots of states still have statutes making sodomy a crime (and which, by the way, is often so broadly defined as to outlaw oral sex). Adultery was still a crime in many states until the recent past.
Strap in. The government is heading for your bedrooms and anywhere else you may want to have privacy.
I disagree. A woman doesn’t want a pregnancy. People who insist the zygote is a human use government force to compel her to carry it to term. Government force employed to compel one person against their desire to support another. If you believe the zygote is a human being, this is the very definition of servitude. If you believe the zygote is just an interesting cell, a thing, it is really, really unethical. Forcing a woman to nine months of unhealthy distress, potential risk and often irreversible change to her body for the benefit of a cell with no mind, no feelings, no memories. Absurd.
I have had discussions with biology researchers (interesting story actually) about the potential relationship between cancer and evolution. They explained that this is not a wild idea, but completely reasonable and being studied. Sharks rarely get cancer, and have evolved quite slowly. Cancer is overwhelmingly the reverse case, where the host’s life is dependent on removing the cancer. If cancer is a new emerging life, is it ethical to remove and kill it?
I did not down vote you and +1 bumped you back up. Your arguments are common, well expressed, and need discussion.
Not even complicated.
Are you down with that?
Asking for a friend.
Oh yeah, California wants to murder their babies one month after birth? (no joke) Why not one year old? Ten years? Why not kill them when they get to be pesky teenagers? H*ll lets just kill them all, random like (yes, I'm joking). When crowds start flocking to that fake Indian Warren you know reason has gone straight over the cliff.
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