[Wonder Warthog]

"The same is true of an unfertilzed egg or a sperm. If they live they will be human. They won't be dogs, horses, nor anything else. Are unfertilized eggs and sperm worthy of the same protection as a 7 celled blastosphere? If so why? If not, why not?"

Not unless they "get together" and make that blastosphere. Unless that happens, they'll be just be "eggs and sperm".

By YOUR definition, it's perfectly OK to kill a just-born infant. Not fully mature, y'know. But then, the same can be said for any teen-ager.

The development of human life is a BIOCHEMICAL PROCESS, and that process starts with the event that initiates the cellular division. There is no other scientifically definable point.

[jas3]

"The same is true of an unfertilzed egg or a sperm. If they live they will be human. They won't be dogs, horses, nor anything else. Are unfertilized eggs and sperm worthy of the same protection as a 7 celled blastosphere? If so why? If not, why not?"

Not unless they "get together" and make that blastosphere. Unless that happens, they'll be just be "eggs and sperm".

And some would argue that after that happens they are just a fertilized egg, not a human, not worthy of legal protection, and of no moral consequence.

By YOUR definition, it's perfectly OK to kill a just-born infant. Not fully mature, y'know. But then, the same can be said for any teen-ager.

I have not provided any definition yet, nor do I condone killing just-born infants nor "teen-agers".

The development of human life is a BIOCHEMICAL PROCESS, and that process starts with the event that initiates the cellular division. There is no other scientifically definable point.

Yes, I am quite acquainted with biochemistry and genetics although not in a professional setting. But it is a large step to state that the potential for human life in a fertilized egg is the moral equivalent of a newborn. And there are dozens of scientifically definable points at which one might define life as being legally or morally at a beginning including the first heartbeat, the third trimester, the start of neural development, the development of an alimentary canal, etc.

I can see your argument, but I can see other arguments that eggs and sperm deserve protection too, since they can each become a human too, although not without each other. But neither can a blastosphere become a human without dozens of other requirements too.

jas3