Apes are People too !

Socialists: Give apes human rights
Spain HeraldThe Spanish Socialist Party will introduce a bill in the Congress of Deputies calling for "the immediate inclusion of (simians) in the category of persons, and that they be given the moral and legal protection that currently are only enjoyed by human beings." The PSOE's justification is that humans share 98.4% of our genes with chimpanzees, 97.7% with gorillas, and 96.4% with orangutans.The party will announce its Great Ape Project at a press conference tomorrow. An organization with the same name is seeking a UN declaration on simian rights which would defend ape interests "the same as those of minors and the mentally handicapped of our species."According to the Project, "Today only members of the species Homo sapiens are considered part of the community of equals. The chimpanzee, the gorilla, and the orangutan are our species's closest relatives. They possess sufficient mental faculties and emotional life to justify their inclusion in the community of equals."http://www.spainherald.com/3438.html

AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!sigh....

Was gonna use the thread title "Enter the Monkey" but that would have been wrong on SOOOOOOO many levels

I'm all for ape rights - just as soon as we get everyone in our own species taken care of.

What laws would you apply to all primates, and why?
Some of the laws are just not appicable.
Example: protection in the work-place.

Actually it should do. The laws are meant to give the apes the same rights as a minor, so they wouldn't be able to work (or they would within whatever child labour laws exist).

ok that explaines it, but can you still if you think all rules should apply? If we are talking about children then how about education? (should we teach all primates about ToE or ID {I'm joking do not respond to the brackets})

Well, right now it seems to be more about defending their interests than integrating them into society. I don't think they will be capable of understanding the law in its entirety (who knows, maybe they'll get the gist though), so we can't ask them to abide by it. We can't send the apes to school since the difference between human kids and apes is that human kids will not always be considered minors.

If an ape in your care (hard not to say pet) became terminally ill would you be allowed to take it to the vet to be ”put down’? or will anti-euthanasia laws prevent that? If not what implications would that have for humans?

Given the wording as I've seen it, euthanasia laws would apply (does the law of that particular country allow the mentally disabled/minors to be euthanatized?).

Would this proscribe any medical tests that involve primates?
I am interested to know if there are opponents to this proposition.
Seems there would be substantial human 'costs' involved on a number of levels.

I believe so, since they would be minors they wouldn't be able to give informed consent to the tests. More information can be found at their website, here is their declaration. This isn't the Spanish Socialist Party's site, but I believe it shares the same kind of views, and may be the influence for the proposition.

I guess my gut instinct is to agree with them.
I am no tree-hugger and I put the interests of humans before other animals, but it is difficult to challenge their arguments on a biological level.
Evolution tells us there is really nothing special about humans (except our excessive reverence for our own species) and all evidence suggests these animals have high intelligence and are capable of a great deal of sensitivity, emotion, empathy, etc.Also, wouldn't that make harming a great ape punishable at the same level as harming a human? I see some major legal issues arising here.Again, I am curious about those who would oppose this proposition and what sort of reasoning they might use to justify their opposition (scientific, religious, political).

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!That was Hilarious.I dont agree with Chimps having the same rights as humans or being recognized as humans. For one, Chimps, Gorilla and orangutans would find it insulting to be called humans LOL. Number two, we have enough knuckle walkers in the human race right now! We dont need anymore LOL.

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"The Nephilim where in the Earth in those days..." Genesis 6:4

Just because Man and Woman have the same rights, doesn’t mean that Man is recognised as Woman or that Woman is recognised as Man. In the same frame giving the great Apes the same rights as a human, (albeit a minor) doesn’t not recognise them AS human. All is it does is recognise that, as some level, they deserve a similar level of rights and protection.