Sunday, May 26, 2013

Does a Zygote have the Right to Enslave?

Samuel Adams observed that tyrants pervert the plain meaning of words. In the question whether or not a zygote has the right to enslave, I start with a definition of terms, using http://dictionary.reference.com. 
  • person - an individual human being. 
  • individual - a single organism capable of independent existence [Biology definition] 
  • zygote - the cell formed by the union of the nuclei of two reproductive cells (gametes), especially a fertilized egg cell. 
  • embryo - an animal in its earliest stage of development, before all the major body structures are represented. In humans, the embryonic stage lasts through the first eight weeks of pregnancy. In humans, other placental mammals, and other viviparous animals, young born as embryos cannot thrive. 
  • fetus - the unborn offspring of a mammal at the later stages of its development, especially a human from eight weeks after fertilization to its birth. In a fetus, all major body organs are present.
 
Some say the zygote has rights. Others say rights are acquired at birth. I differ with both camps. Here are viewpoints from both camps, which do not include religion-based arguments:

      "The question as to when a human person begins is a philosophical
       question—not a scientific question. I will not go into great detail here,
       but "personhood" begins when the human being begins—at fertilization."
       - http://www.princeton.edu/~prolife/articles/wdhbb.html 

      "Rights do not pertain to a potential, only to an actual being. A child
       cannot acquire any rights until it is born."
       - http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/abortion.html   
 
      "What of the fetus? Does it have rights which must be respected? The
       concept of rights is based on man's nature and presupposes the existence
       of an actual, fully formed and separate human being. Fetuses and embryos
       are not actual human beings; they are potential human beings. They have
       no rights until they exist apart from the mother, i.e., at birth. This is not to
       condone the morality of arbitrarily delaying an abortion until the last
       months of pregnancy--when the fetus is approaching humanness. But the
       function of the law is to protect rights--not to dictate moral issues which
       involve no violation of rights."
       - http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?id=5105
 
       Here is An Objectivist Condemnation of Abortion.  
 

Does a zygote have the right to enslave? I answer this question using the following principles of Thomas Jefferson: 

"The principles on which we engaged, of which the charter of our independence is the record, were sanctioned by the laws of our being… Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights… A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature…”

“We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable;
That all men are created equal & independent,
That from that equal creation
They derive rights inherent & inalienable,
Among which are the preservation of
Life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness…”


"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."

No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him."

The zygote has the complete number of chromosomes of a unique human. But, does a zygote have the right to force its mother to feed and take care of it for the next 19 years? Many Objectivists hold that rights commence at birth. But, birth does not give the baby ability to procure its own food in order to preserve its own life. Using birth as the basis of rights is using a principle based on location, since the only difference of an unborn six-month-old fetus with a baby born prematurely after six months in the womb is its location. This is contrary to Jefferson's principle that rights are based on the laws of man's nature.

The zygote cannot have a right no man has. "No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another." Its mother must choose to be responsible for it. The pregnant girl/woman is free to make this decision until the onset of the fundamental independence of the new unique human, which is the presence of brain activity that makes the unborn capable of breathing. No one has the right to stop an innocent from breathing, whether the innocent is in a crib, in an incubator, or in the womb.

The embryo is not sentient. It does not have brain activity. The central nervous system is fully formed on the 9th week, the start of the fetal stage. The fetus takes its first breath on the 10th week. [link]

A fetus has its own bodily parts. Its brain activity is separate from its mother's. The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. The new human breathes using an organ created from itself. A fully formed human with brain activity has acquired the NATURAL ATTRIBUTES of an ACTUAL living human. It is not birth that accords actuality; birth only changes the location of the innocent. 

Rights are UNOBSTRUCTED actions according to one's will, limited only by the equal rights of others. If the mother is in coma and life support, the fetus will continue to breathe. This further evinces that the breathing of the fetus is an independent action. The unborn with brain activity has INHERENT NATURAL rights. It has the right to continue breathing.

Based on the laws of man's nature, the zygote has no rights. Man is fallible, and even the young have strong sexual urges. The individual right to the preservation of liberty and the pursuit of happiness guarantees the pregnant girl's right to choose whether or not to be responsible for another human for 19 years. This right is consistent with what nature has provided: a window to change course, which is the stage where the unborn has no brain activity. Based on human nature, the criterion for the cessation of the life of a fully formed human should be the criterion used for its onset.   







66 comments:

  1. Many in the GOP have been active in submitting bills to ban all abortions, including the morning-after and week-after pills.

    http://www.humanevents.com/2013/03/20/rand-pauls-life-at-conception-act/

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr374

    "Vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan was a co-sponsor last year of HR 212, the Sanctity of Human Life Act, which states that "human life shall be deemed to begin with fertilization.""

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/30/health/ivf-outlawed

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Because Nicholas does not have a brain he cannot see, hear, sit-up, crawl, or suck." - Jewel's link.

    Truth: "Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. It is a type of neural tube defect (NTD). These are birth defects that happen during the first month of pregnancy, usually before a woman knows she is pregnant. As the neural tube forms and closes, it helps form the baby’s brain and skull (upper part of the neural tube), spinal cord, and back bones (lower part of the neural tube).

    Anencephaly happens if the upper part of the neural tube does not close all the way. This often results in a baby being born without the front part of the brain (forebrain) and the thinking and coordinating part of the brain (cerebrum). The remaining parts of the brain are often not covered by bone or skin"

    http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/anencephaly.html.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Many in the GOP have been active in submitting bills to ban all abortions, including the morning-after and week-after pills. Questions to those who support them:

    1) The mother is coerced to birth and to take care of her offspring for 19 years. What coercion should the father be subjected to? Should boys/men be forced to be DNA-ed? After paternity is established, what acts should the father be coerced to do or not do?

    2) Since the mother cannot leave her offspring unattended for 12 years, who should be coerced to provide housing, food, healthcare, etc. for her and her offspring, if the father of her offspring is unable? When the offspring is 13, and the mother cannot find a job, who should be coerced to provide for them? For how long?

    ReplyDelete
  4. A baby is defined as "a very young child, esp. one newly or recently born."

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Religion. Your reason is now mature enough to examine this object. In the first place, divest yourself of all bias in favor of novelty and singularity of opinion. Indulge them in any other subject rather than that of religion. It is too important, and the consequences of error may be too serious. On the other hand, shake off all the fears and servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. You will naturally examine first, the religion of your own country. Read the Bible, then as you would read Livy or Tacitus. The facts which are within the ordinary course of nature, you will believe on the authority of the writer, as you do those of the same kind in Livy and Tacitus. The testimony of the writer weighs in their favor, in one scale, and their not being against the laws of nature, does not weigh against them. But those facts in the Bible which contradict the laws of nature, must be examined with more care, and under a variety of faces. Here you must recur to the pretensions of the writer to inspiration from God. Examine upon what evidence his pretensions are founded, and whether that evidence is so strong, as that its falsehood would be more improbable than a change in the laws of nature, in the case he relates. For example, in the book of Joshua, we are told, the sun stood still several hours. Were we to read that fact in Livy or Tacitus, we should class it with their showers of blood, speaking of statues, beasts, etc. But it is said, that the writer of that book was inspired. Examine, therefore, candidly, what evidence there is of his having been inspired. The pretension is entitled to your inquiry, because millions believe it. On the other hand, you are astronomer enough to know how contrary it is to the law of nature that a body revolving on its axis, as the earth does, should have stopped, should not, by that sudden stoppage, have prostrated animals, trees, buildings, and should after a certain time gave resumed its revolution, and that without a second general prostration. Is this arrest of the earth's motion, or the evidence which affirms it, most within the law of probabilities? You will next read the New Testament. It is the history of a personage called Jesus. Keep in your eye the opposite pretensions: 1, of those who say he was begotten by God, born of a virgin, suspended and reversed the laws of nature at will, and ascended bodily into heaven; and 2, of those who say he was a man of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions to divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedition, by being gibbeted, according to the Roman law, which punished the first commission of that offence by whipping, and the second by exile, or death "in furea"....

    ReplyDelete
  6. ".... Do not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear of its consequences. If it ends in a belief that there is no God, you will find incitements to virtue in the comfort and pleasantness you feel in its exercise, and the love of others which it will procure you. If you find reason to believe there is a God, a consciousness that you are acting under his eye, and that he approves you, will be a vast additional incitement; if that there be a future state, the hope of a happy existence in that increases the appetite to deserve it; if that Jesus was also a God, you will be comforted by a belief of his aid and love. In fine, I repeat, you must lay aside all prejudice on both sides, and neither believe nor reject anything, because any other persons, or description of persons, have rejected or believed it. Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable, not for the rightness, but uprightness of the decision. I forgot to observe, when speaking of the New Testament, that you should read all the histories of Christ, as well of those whom a council of ecclesiastics have decided for us, to be Pseudo-evangelists, as those they named Evangelists. Because these Pseudo-evangelists pretended to inspiration, as much as the others, and you are to judge their pretensions by your own reason, and not by the reason of those ecclesiastics. Most of these are lost. There are some, however, still extant, collected by Fabricius, which I will endeavor to get and send you."

    http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/thomas_jefferson/letter_to_carr.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. A baby has been born, so a baby cannot be aborted. An embryo has no brain activity, so it cannot be killed. An embryo cannot have a right no man has -> it cannot have the right to enslave. The pregnant has the right to choose whether or not she wants to take care of someone for 19 years.

    http://jeffersonianclub.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-zygote-have-right-to-enslave.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. God created the embryonic stage, where the unborn has no brain activity, not sentient, and not breathing. God gifted humans with free will.

    The zygote/embryo does not have a right no human has: the right to enslave. It has no right to coerce its mother. The pregnant girl must consent to take care of it for 19 years.

    ReplyDelete
  9. God has given humans free will. But some must hold they are better than God, because they crave to impose what they hold is best.

    ReplyDelete
  10. You cannot kill one with no brain activity. Lying about it is camouflage for your craving to coerce.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nothing justifies COERCION. No one, not an embryo, not a future genius, has a right no man has: the right to enslave. The pregnant have a window to choose: the stage when the unborn has no brain activity: the embryonic stage.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree that abortion after the onset of brain activity, when the fetus breathes, on the 10th week, if not about life-death health issues, is murder.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory. The pregnant being has brain activity, does breathe, and is sentient. When the unborn breathes, I hold that it has acquired rights. The embryonic stage is up to 8 weeks. The central nervous system is fully developed on the 9th week. The fetus takes its first breath on the 10th.

    A fetus has its own bodily parts. Its brain activity is separate from its mother's. The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. The new human breathes using an organ created from itself. A fully formed human with brain activity has acquired the NATURAL ATTRIBUTES of an ACTUAL living human. It is not birth that accords actuality; birth only changes the location of the innocent.

    Rights are UNOBSTRUCTED actions according to one's will, limited only by the equal rights of others. If the mother is in coma and life support, the fetus will continue to breathe. This further evinces that the breathing of the fetus is an independent action. The unborn with brain activity has INHERENT NATURAL rights. It has the right to continue breathing.

    http://jeffersonianclub.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-zygote-have-right-to-enslave.html

    ReplyDelete




  14. A fetus [starting at 9 weeks] has its OWN developed central nervous system, its OWN heart, its OWN nose, its OWN bodily parts, and it can breathe and move. The organ that allows a baby to "breathe" in the uterus is called the placenta. A fetus takes its FIRST BREATH at 10 weeks.

    Human brain activity is an attribute of an actual living human. Every actual living human has a right to life. A right is an action that can be exercised without anyone's permission limited only by the equal rights of others. A fetus has the right to exercise the actions of breathing and moving without the permission of the one who chose it to exist and to be where it is. The rights of the one responsible for the existence of the fetus are limited by the equal rights of others including the fetus.

    A fetus with brain activity has a right to life REGARDLESS OF ITS LOCATION, whether it is in the womb, in an incubator, or in a crib. Since it has taken its first breath, it has the right to keep on breathing. What is the difference between a six-month-old unborn fetus and a premature baby born at 6 months? Location, which is not the criterion for rights.

    ReplyDelete
  15. An offspring is not responsible for the sins of the father and/or mother. To say that it is okay for the offspring of criminals to be aborted is UNJUST.

    ReplyDelete
  16. No one, not even a zygote, has the right to enslave. God created the embryonic stage, where the unborn has no brain activity, is not sentient, and does not breathe. God is all-good and all-loving.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/14/state-abortion-restrictions_n_4963845.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013

    ReplyDelete
  17. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/dc-abortion-fund-coat-hanger_n_5008010.html

    ReplyDelete
  18. The unborn takes its first breath on the 10th week - this means that it has brain activity as of this time, with the central nervous system having been fully developed on the 9th week. Since the 10th-week fetus has brain activity and since it breathes, it is already sentient. It can feel pain when aborted.

    A fetus has its own bodily parts. On the 10th week, its brain activity is separate from its mother's. The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. At this stage, the new human breathes using an organ created from itself. A fully formed human with brain activity has acquired the NATURAL ATTRIBUTES of an ACTUAL, separate, individual, living human. No one has the right to stop an innocent from breathing, whether the innocent is in a crib, in an incubator, or in the womb.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Barbara Houk: Ultra sound is done at 16 weeks but pregnancy can be suspected after 4th week. (This was due to resolution at the time I reviewed this). Beta HCG is not all that high at 4th week. Most docs want to wait untill end if 42nd day. Early ultrasounds have to be confirmed with Beta HCG bc it could be any type of mass.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Barbara Houk Most women have no other clue to pregnancy until period does not happen at end of second month. EDC means end of confinement, the term docs use for estimating the beginning to end if a pregnancy. Docs estimate counting the missed period is the second month.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory. The embryo has no brain activity; it is not sentient; it does not breathe. Whereas, the pregnant girl breathes and is sentient. An embryo is up to 8 weeks. The central nervous system is fully formed at 9 weeks. The fetus takes its first breath at 10 weeks. I hold that at this stage, the unborn has rights.

    ReplyDelete
  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I don't remember anything that happened when I was an infant. An infant has no capability of choice. More so when it comes to the unborn.

    The unborn breathes on the 10th week. For it to breathe, there must be brain activity. For it to have brain activity, the CNS has to be fully developed. That it will continue to function better with time does not mean that the fundamental elements are not present after the 9th week.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.

    I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.

    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.

    http://jeffersonianclub.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-zygote-have-right-to-enslave.html

    ReplyDelete
  26. What others believe, what others do, is none of my business so long as it does not violate rights. Advocating that abortion is murder can lead to its ban. So it becomes my business.

    With all due respect to everyone's beliefs, but I am with Thomas Paine when it comes to the bible, which was used to tyrannize Galileo, and whose believers enslaved the Philippines for centuries, killed Rizal, and brutalized Filipinos.

    https://www.facebook.com/IlynRossJeffersonian/photos/a.1435704059975367.1073741836.1418031698409270/1440631216149318/?type=3&theater

    ReplyDelete
  27. See the Law of Identity and the Law of Causality here. They are axioms.

    Based on the Law of Identity: An embryo is not an actual living human.
    Based on the Law of Causality: One with no developed central nervous system, like an embryo, cannot have brain activity.

    http://www.importanceofphilosophy.com/Metaphysics_Causality.html

    ReplyDelete
  28. "equal & independent" - The embryo is not equal to and independent from the pregnant girl. The pregnant has brain activity. The embryo does not. The pregnant has a central nervous system. The embryo does not. The pregnant breathes. The embryo does not. The pregnant is sentient. The embryo is not.

    “We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable;
    That all men are created equal & independent,
    That from that equal creation
    They derive rights inherent & inalienable,
    Among which are the preservation of
    Life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness…”

    ReplyDelete
  29. God gifted man with FREE WILL. Choice. He created the embryonic stage, the window to change course, such that those who commit mistakes or the victims of rape will not suffer for a lifetime, together with the baby they bear.

    ReplyDelete
  30. coerced moms - Www.exiledmothers.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. Behold these FIVE MILLION coercions, where substantial monetary benefits were involved.

    "The Baby Scoop Era Was a Dark Time for Adoption - Usually defined as the period post WWII spanning until Roe vs. Wade, the Baby Scoop Era produced almost 5 million adoptees."

    Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/33/84887-baby-scoop-era-forced-give#ixzz2LB3RPEqK

    ReplyDelete
  32. This one go by the bible: Mourdock -

    http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50133817n

    ReplyDelete
  33. When I wrote that giving up one's baby is 24/7 torture for a lifetime, I did not know that there are MILLIONS of young girls who were FORCED to do so, as PUNISHMENT and for SUBSTANTIAL MONETARY benefits. Wishing a Mom to give up her baby reveals a monstrously cruel character, but doing it as punishment or for monetary gain is UTTERLY BARBARIC.

    “Unwed mothers should be punished and they should be punished by taking their children away.”—Dr. Marion Hilliard of Women’s College Hospital, Daily Telegraph, (Toronto, November 1956)

    "In the Baby Scoop Era, mothers were shamed into surrendering their children if born out of wedlock and given no choice at all.

    “Illegitimacy is taboo in our society. A child born out of wedlock carries a stigma for life, while his unwed mother is often treated as a social outcast—an irresponsible, sexual delinquent who must be forced into seclusion as punishment for her flagrant violation of our most sacred principles.”

    Forced by their own families into maternity homes, ostracized by society, denied employment and a place to live, mothers signed away their children because they were “bad girls.” There was no redemption, just secrecy and false stories “moving on” and “getting over it”....

    After many years of making SUBSTANTIAL MONETARY benefits from the practice of adoption..."

    http://www.divinecaroline.com/life-etc/culture-causes/baby-scoop-era-women-forced-give-their-babies

    ReplyDelete
  34. Behold these FIVE MILLION coercions, where substantial monetary benefits were involved.

    "The Baby Scoop Era Was a Dark Time for Adoption - Usually defined as the period post WWII spanning until Roe vs. Wade, the Baby Scoop Era produced almost 5 million adoptees."

    Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/33/84887-baby-scoop-era-forced-give#ixzz2LB3RPEqK

    ReplyDelete
  35. Choose freedom (God's gift of free will), and life (the pregnant girl has brain activity, while the embryo does not).

    ReplyDelete
  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  37. http://www.bgnews.com/forum/personhood-begins-with-brain-waves-not-heartbeat/article_9ef17c04-5390-11e1-bc03-0019bb2963f4.html

    ReplyDelete
  38. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Repeat: This article says at the outset: "This means that during weeks 1 and 2 of pregnancy, a woman is not yet pregnant."

    Does this means 6-7 is 8-9, the start of the fetal stage? The fetus has brain activity.

    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002398.htm

    ReplyDelete
  40. This puts heartbeat at 17 weeks.

    http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_fetu.htm

    ReplyDelete
  41. Embryological Development of the Human Brain

    http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/Neurosciences/articles/Embryological%20Development%20of%20the%20Human%20Brain/

    ReplyDelete
  42. The heartbeat must have discounted by Congress, based on this study, which is about sentience.

    http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-113hrpt109/html/CRPT-113hrpt109-pt1.htm

    ReplyDelete
  43. This puts the start of heartbeat at 6 weeks.

    http://www.ehow.com/list_6898033_stages-unborn-child-development.html

    ReplyDelete
  44. There is no heart at 4/6 weeks of pregnancy (6 weeks after the 1st day of the last normal menstrual period), but a BLOOD VESSEL which will later develop into the heart and circulatory system.

    4 WEEKS
    (6 WEEKS AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF THE
    LAST NORMAL MENSTRUAL PERIOD)

    The embryo is about 1/6 to 1/4 inch long
    and has developed a head and a trunk.
    • Structures that will become arms and legs,
    called limb buds, begin to appear.
    • A blood vessel forms which will later develop
    into the heart and circulatory system. Blood
    is beginning to be pumped and is visible by
    ultrasound.
    • At about the same time, a ridge of tissue
    forms down the length of the embryo. That
    tissue will later develop into the brain and
    spinal cord.

    http://www.health.state.mn.us/wrtk/wrtk-handbook.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  45. "After conception, your baby begins a period of dramatic change known as the embryonic stage. This stage runs from the 5th through the 10th week of the first trimester of pregnancy. During this stage, the baby is called an embryo."

    "Some of the highlights of your baby’s development during the embryonic stage include:

    •Nervous system. This is one of the first things to develop during the embryonic stage. This means your baby’s brain, spinal cord and nerves form during this stage.
    •Heart. An S-shaped tube forms on the front of the embryo. This will become your baby’s heart. At first the heart does not beat, but soon it starts beating and pumping an early form of blood.
    •Face. Your baby's facial features take shape during the embryonic stage. The eyes and ears form on the sides of the head and are linked to the brain. The eyes move forward on the face, and eyelids form to protect the developing eyes. Pieces of tissue grow and join together to create the forehead, nose, cheeks, lips and jaw. The nasal passages, mouth, tooth buds for the baby's first teeth, and a tongue with taste buds also develop.
    •Arms and legs. At first, your baby's arms and legs begin as little buds sprouting from the embryo's sides. As they grow, the arms look like paddles and the legs like flippers. A ridge appears on the end of each one, eventually becoming fingers and toes.
    •Sexual organs. Cells that will become your baby's eggs or sperm form. Your baby’s penis or vagina is visible at the end of the embryonic period, but it's not yet possible to tell on an ultrasound if your baby is a girl or a boy.
    •Muscles and movement. Muscles develop and the embryo begins to move. At first it’s only twitching and reacting to touch. Once the nerves and muscles start working together, your baby can start moving on purpose.

    By the end of the embryonic stage at week 10, the embryo will be about 1 inch long. That's still too small for you to feel your baby's movements. You'll probably feel them starting in the middle of the second trimester."

    http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/pregnancy-newborns/fetal-health/your-babys-development-the-first-trimester.html

    ReplyDelete
  46. The unborn's heart differs from the heart after birth. Yet, DARK-AGES warriors crave to use heartbeat to COERCE girls/women. They use the term heartbeat to refer to the pumping of a BLOOD VESSEL that will form into the heart.

    http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Cond/fetal_ht.cfm

    ReplyDelete
  47. Forcing the pregnant to birth is coercion. Conservatives/Reaganites push for the Dark-Ages without regard that the USA is ruled by Obama or Killary.

    ReplyDelete
  48. "equal & independent" - The embryo is not equal to and independent from the pregnant girl. The pregnant has brain activity. The embryo does not. The pregnant has a central nervous system. The embryo does not. The pregnant breathes. The embryo does not. The pregnant is sentient. The embryo is not.

    “We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable;
    That all men are created equal & independent,
    That from that equal creation
    They derive rights inherent & inalienable,
    Among which are the preservation of
    Life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness…” - TJ's version of the Declaration of Independence

    ReplyDelete
  49. The medical community uses brain activity as criterion for the cessation of life. I use it as the criterion, as well, for the onset of human life.

    So, I did not make up that criterion.

    ReplyDelete
  50. The medical community uses brain activity as the criterion for the cessation of life. I use it as the criterion, as well, for the onset of human life.

    I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.

    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin is at the center of a political firestorm today over remarks he made Sunday suggesting that victims of what he called "legitimate rape" are less likely to get pregnant.

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/todd-akin-abortion-is-more-un-american-than-slavery-video-2012-8#ixzz3DNlaAiX2

    ReplyDelete
  52. Ye of the DARK-AGES: I am for freedom (God's gift of free will), and life (the pregnant girl has brain activity, while the embryo does not).

    ReplyDelete
  53. Rights are actions that can be exercised without anyone's permission, limited only by the equal rights of others.

    When the fetus starts breathing (on the 10th week), abortion is a violation of its right to continue breathing.

    The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. The new human breathes using an organ created from itself.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Rights are actions that can be exercised without anyone's permission, limited only by the equal rights of others.

    When the fetus starts breathing (on the 10th week), abortion is a violation of its right to continue breathing.

    The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. The new human breathes using an organ created from itself.

    ReplyDelete
  55. The medical community uses brain activity as the criterion for the cessation of life. I use it as the criterion, as well, for the onset of an individual's life.

    I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.

    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.

    http://jeffersonianclub.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-zygote-have-right-to-enslave.html

    ReplyDelete
  56. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  57. The anti abortion are anti choice, which means they are anti free will, a gift from God. They blank out the liberty and life of the pregnant girl.
    The anti abortion are anti science. The medical community uses brain activity as the criterion for the cessation of life. I use it as the criterion, as well, for the onset of an individual's life.

    I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.

    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.


    h ttp://jeffersonianclub.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-zygote-have-right-to-enslave.html

    ReplyDelete

  58. I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.

    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.


    The anti abortion are anti choice, which means they are anti free will, a gift from God. They blank out the liberty and life of the pregnant girl. The anti abortion are anti science. The medical community uses brain activity as the criterion for the cessation of life. I use it as the criterion, as well, for the onset of an individual's life.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Ilyn Ross. You have much discussion on this topic, yet did I miss your discussion of the perspective of another who should have "rights" in this decision? Who? The father. You seem to assume that the father will be irresponsible and avoid the duties and joys of fatherhood. You use the definition zygote - the cell formed by the union of the nuclei of two reproductive cells (gametes), especially a fertilized egg cell. Hmmm... TWO reproductive cells, not both from the mother, one from the father, so why do you ignore the "business partnership" interests of the father in the new product ultimately called a baby? And if the mother ("girl" as you describe her) wants the baby, she can go to the Court to force the father to provide FISCAL support for the child for 18 to 21 years, or even some cases 22 on completion of college, why then can not the father go to the court to require the mother to provide PHYSICAL support for 9 months, and for him to be designated by the Court as the parent with child custody? Sexual intercourse is an implied consent to a contract for possible production of a child, so is an unwritten contract required to be honored by both parties.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The father of the zygote does not have a right to dictate to the mother of the zygote.

      Delete
  60. One with no brain activity cannot be killed.


    Those who hold otherwise are as anti-reality as those who held that the sun revolves around the earth.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Yes, my God is for choice. Proof: He provided the embryonic stage.

    ReplyDelete

  62. I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.
    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.


    The central nervous system is fully formed on the 9th week, the start of the fetal stage. The fetus takes its first breath on the 10th week.

    A fetus has its own bodily parts. Its brain activity is separate from its mother's. The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. The new human breathes using an organ created from itself. A fully formed human with brain activity has acquired the NATURAL ATTRIBUTES of an ACTUAL living human. It is not birth that accords actuality; birth only changes the location of the innocent.

    Rights are UNOBSTRUCTED actions according to one's will, limited only by the equal rights of others. If the mother is in coma and life support, the fetus will continue to breathe. This further evinces that the breathing of the fetus is an independent action. The unborn with brain activity has INHERENT NATURAL rights. It has the right to continue breathing.

    ReplyDelete
  63. By nature, by God's creation, humans are sexual creatures, who are fallible. Even the young have sexual urges.


    God made the embryonic stage. He is so benevolent that he created a window for the pregnant to decide if they are ready for Mom-reponsibilities or not yet.


    I am pro-life and pro-choice. They are not contradictory.
    The pregnant girl has brain activity; the embryo does not.
    The pregnant girl is sentient; the embryo is not.
    The pregnant girl breathes; the embryo does not.


    The central nervous system is fully formed on the 9th week, the start of the fetal stage. The fetus takes its first breath on the 10th week.


    A fetus has its own bodily parts. Its brain activity is separate from its mother's. The placenta, which the fetus uses to breathe, comes from embryonic cells. The new human breathes using an organ created from itself. A fully formed human with brain activity has acquired the NATURAL ATTRIBUTES of an ACTUAL living human. It is not birth that accords actuality; birth only changes the location of the innocent.


    Rights are UNOBSTRUCTED actions according to one's will, limited only by the equal rights of others. If the mother is in coma and life support, the fetus will continue to breathe. This further evinces that the breathing of the fetus is an independent action. The unborn with brain activity has INHERENT NATURAL rights. It has the right to continue breathing.


    Full article: http://jeffersonianclub.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-zygote-have-right-to-enslave.html

    ReplyDelete
  64. Organism capable of independent biological function barring defect, illness or injury

    ReplyDelete
  65. I'm pro-life & pro-choice. They are not contradictory. Embryo (up to 8w) has no brain activity; not sentient; does not breathe. Mom breathes & is sentient. The central nervous system is fully formed at 9w. Fetus takes its 1st breath at 10w. At this stage, the unborn has rights.

    ReplyDelete