"you don't just have something that has homo sapien DNA, you have a member of the species homo sapiens."
I did not say the zygote did not have homo sapien DNA.
But a speck of protoplasn is not a person. It has no mind, no consciousness, no desires, no goals, no aspects of personhood.
a PERSON is not determined by having a certain DNA structure. Otherwise, the hair in my nose or the flake of skin off my scalp would be PEOPLE.
Hell, if we truly believed that a speck of protoplasm was a person then we would be morally obliged to "farm" all women so that the little persons could first be gotten (forced sex and no contraception to get the ingredients) followed by judicial husbandry in order to protect and preserve the lives of the little persons. Not to do every thing in our power to protect the lives of these little "persons" would be defaulting on a moral obligation to human rights. Just as parents are forced to provide a safe and humane living environment for their children (who ARE little persons) so would women be forced to sacrifice their own comfort, values, and freedom and RIGHTS...to the existence of specks of protoplasm.
"The earliest distinct "person X", is after fertilization"
There is no "person" until there is characteristics that define "person". Not a difficult concept to understand. Different people can have the same DNA. You have heard of twins, I presume? In fact, we can now take billions of cells from our bodies and implant them in billions of eggs and create "homo sapiens" or "human life" blah blah blah. But are these "potential persons" PERSONS??? NO, NO, NO.
Can I impose a stupid religious superiority on the rest of my society and compel them to protect and defend the "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" of my hair follicles should I decide to bake a billion cakes in my well equipped laboratory???? NO, NO, NO.
The reason I said a "stupid religious superiority" was because THAT is the ONLY rationale that has ever been used or ever can be used to give a moral exemption to human DNA which has no sentience, no consciousness, no values, no interests, no goals, and no existence distinct from sand or granite--while causing death, pain, and suffering to fully conscious creatures with only slightly different dna structures--but (obviously) without our interest in human ends.
"We where all zygotes once. We where not sperm or ova"
We disagree there. Energy and matter we were and are and this energy/matter simply expresses in different forms. At one time there were no human ova or sperm. There were trilobites and there were dinosaurs. But you are here...right??
Fortunately, where or when we started as "potentials" is completely irrelevant to when we become actual persons with consciousness, sentience, interests, and values. To make the absurd assertion that sentience is not a requirement for the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness would be to beg the difference between a human person and a baseball bat. Although, admittedly there are times when I wonder myself... |
