Reductio ad absurdum

The new Supreme Court nominee believes that a zygote -- the single cell that results from the merger of a sperm cell and an ovum -- is a human being just like you and your Aunt Fannie, and entitled to all of the rights, dignity and respect due accordingly. Can you guess what is wrong with this idea? As I have noted previously, it most certainly does not come from the Bible, not from the Old Testament or any saying ascribed to Jesus or Paul. Nobody actually knew what conception was until the 20th Century, actually, but people knew that pregnancy resulted from sexual intercourse and that it didn ' t become apparent until some time later. As I noted previously, Catholic Church doctrine held until the late 19th Century that abortion was not proscribed until about the 24th week of pregnancy. So it ' s a strange belief of mysterious origin. But let ' s say you are convinced that it is true. It is also true that 50% or more of these zygotes do not go on to develop into living humans. They may fail to implant in the uterus, or fail to develop normally and die in utero. If this happens at a relatively late stage the woman may be aware that she has miscarried, but most often is not, or only suspects. Anyway, if you believe that this is the moral equivalent of a baby dying, and Ms. Barrett claims she does believe exactly that, what must inevitably follow? That this is the greatest disaster ever to befall humanity, and all of the resources of biomedical research and public...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs