Sun Tzu

I may miss a few, but heres what I see as points both sides (prolife/choice) agree on:




An ovum is not a human person.


Similarly a spermatozoa is a form of life, but its not a person either.


At or shortly after conception, a fertilized ovum is a form of human life.


An embryo is a form of human life.


A fetus is a form of human life.


A newborn baby is a form of human life.


A newborn baby is a human person.


Somewhere during the nine months between the ovum-spermatozoa stage and the newborn baby that breathes on its own is when human personhood begins.



The only real difference between pro-lifers and pro-choicers involves the question when does human personhood begins.

Life and personhood are two very different matters. The human ovum (egg) is already clearly alive when it enters the fallopian tubes, many hours or days before it has the opportunity to be fertilized. Women release one about each month between puberty and menopause - a few hundred in a lifetime. Almost all of these are destined to die and be ejected from the body. Unless a couple is having difficulty conceiving, very little thought is given to these hundreds of deaths. Although the ovum is a form of life, there is a consensus that it is not a human person. They are not even considered by scientists to be human organisms.

Hundreds of millions of male sperm are liberated during a typical sexual encounter. A few week's worth of ejaculations from a single male would theoretically provide sufficient sperm to double the earth's human population, if each were used to fertilize a separate ovum. Sperm are also clearly alive. Viewing them under a microscope reveals them to be energetic swimmers. Essentially all of these will die within days. Again, unless infertility is a problem, little attention is given to these deaths. An average man produces thousands of sperm a second. At most, a very few during his lifetime will contribute to the formation of a baby. The rest will die. Few men are consciously aware of the loss. Although sperm are very much alive and kicking, there is a consensus that they are not human persons; they are not human organisms.


Something to consider:
A skin scraping of a child or adult contains a very large number of living, single cells; each has the same unique human DNA code as does the human from which it came. Scottish scientists have been able to start with a cell removed from the mammary tissue of a sheep, inject it into a sheep ovum whose DNA has been removed, and produce "Dolly," a new sheep who is genetically identical to her "parent." This same procedure has been replicated for many other mammals. It is likely that the same procedure can be used to clone a human. DNA from skin scraping, or a swab of the inside of the mouth, or a hair follicle could be used to produce exact twins of the donor human. Wired Magazine for 2001-JAN predicted that human cloning would happen during the year 2001, even though it violates the medical ethic regulations of many countries. Since a just-fertilized egg contains human DNA information as does a hair follicle, they presumably should both be given the same status. We don't consider hair follicles, skin scrapings or swabs from mouths to be a human person. Skeptics might argue that we should not look upon fertilized ova as persons either.

So where does personhood begin? On the mating? THe subconscious thought of the male and female parents? WHere in the cycle of pregnancy:




About 12 days from conception when pregnancy begins. i.e. when the fertilized ovum has developed to the blastocyst stage and has attached itself to the lining of the uterus.


About two weeks from conception when a yellow streak develops in the embryo. This will later become the neural tube which will be protected by the backbone. Once this develops, it is impossible for the embryo to split into a pair of identical twins. The concept of personhood implies a single entity; twins would be two persons. Before this stage of development, the embryo may still split and become two persons.


3 weeks from conception when the embryo is about 2 mm long and has started to develop visible external body parts.


4 weeks when its heart starts to beat.


6 weeks from conception, when brain waves can be first sensed.


2 months, when the fetus has lost its neck structures which
resemble gill slits, and its tail. Its face resembles that of a primate.


3 months the fetus begins to "look like" a baby. The recent development of high resolution 3-D ultrasound equipment provides incredibly detailed pictures of the fetus at this stage. These photographs are convincing many people that the fetus is a human person at this stage because it looks like one. 9


4 months when the fetus' face has developed to the point where one can tell one fetus from another.


About 24 weeks, when the fetus becomes viable, (i.e. able to live outside the womb)


6 months or later, when the fetal brain's higher functions become operational. Scientists have: " measured brain-wave patterns like those during dreaming at 8 months gestation."


As far as felons sentenced to death- the concern I have is if any are innocent. . .yikes

The ones that are guilty have been sentenced because of taking someone elses life- so I say they should pay the price. I think the only other way to get a death sentence is to be convicted of aiding the enemy- I could be wrong. All this IMO ofcourse.

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To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking