Most neurologists assume that electrical activity in the first trimester represents random neuron firings as nerves connect--basically, tiny spasmsThanks for the quote Torie, you prove my point quite well. They don't know, they assume! And because they assume, their judgement is arbitrary.
I assume they are wrong. Of course, I wouldn't use sentience as the criteria for life and death when the natural order is for that unborn baby to become every bit as sentient as you or I, in direct contravention to a brain dead patient who is going nowhere but to meet his maker.
But that's beside the point.
I don't think in context "assume" = "wild guess" here. But it would have been nice if Easterbrook had fleshed out this point, and what the assumption is based on, because it is a key pivot point for the whole edifice in my opinion. I agree that the brain dead permanently comatose patient is an easier case, much easier.