Stem Cells and Ethics

I agree with the stance taken by the infertility patients. Perhaps it would be instructive to consider the implications of pushing their opponents' reasoning to a logical conclusion.Many--a number approaching "most"--embryos are spontaneously aborted for one reason or another. Whether by scattering a million eggs in the ocean or presenting monthly candidates to the womb, nature works by tossing up a thousand possibilities to each successful reproduction.If we are to see all embryos as persons, then we must set about the task of rescuing those embryos that would otherwise be rejected, for whatever reason, in the event of spontaneous abortion. Women would have to be checked monthly for fertilization events, and some intervention attempted to insure successful implantation and maturation of the embryo. If they (the embryos, not the women) are persons, our moral imperative to save them is as clear as a lifeguard's at a drowning.That is, of course, absurd, though that level of womb surveillance would be acceptable to many. A fertilized embryo is no more a person than one of my indvidual sperm. Edited by Omnivorous, : tpyo

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I understand your numerical objection, but I stand by my observation that neither sperm nor fertilized eggs are persons.

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Real things always push back.
-William James Save lives! Click here!
Join the World Community Grid with Team EvC!
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