Human personhood

[arunangelo]

Our humanity is determined by the human life we possess; and not by our shape, size, color, appearance or abilities. This is very evident by the fact that irrespective of who we are; when we die our body becomes a mere corpse. Human life is a human life-force within every living human being. This force forms, directs and sustains our state as a live human being. It does this by directing and coordinating our thoughts, words, actions and physiology. It is, therefore, the life of our whole being and the soul of our humanity. Therefore, for our body to be a human person we must have human life. We received this life at conception, when we were in our embryonic stage of life. Although we were just an embryo then, we were still a human being; because we were a distinct living entity with human genes and human life. The distinctiveness of the life of an embryo is evident by the fact it has genetic make up that is totally different from the mother; and it can survive in a test tube out side the mother. Furthermore, the life we have today is the same life we had as an embryo. This life, which began when we were conceived, continued without any interruption as we went through successive stages of development. Therefore, since we are a human person today, we were also a human person as an embryo.

An unfertilized ovum will remain only an ovum (just like any other cell in our body) until it dies. However, if it is fertilized (which occurs at conception) human life-force enters the cell; which immediately lays the framework for the entire life of that human being. This means that the newly formed embryo has the foundation of a fully formed human being. Furthermore, the life-force initiates, directs and sustains a process that transforms that being from a single cell embryo to a full grown human being with 10 trillion cells; brain with memory capacity equal to 20,000 computers; and abilities to love, forgive, create, perform and think. This life-force, therefore, is not just the life of that cell, but the life of the entire humanity of that being. Since this life entered our being at conception, we became a human person at conception; and human embryos and fetuses are human persons. Furthermore, the declaration of independence of the United States, states that we are all created equal. Since, the time of our creation is at conception; we have equal rights from the moment of our conception. To destroy a human embryo or fetus, therefore, is to kill a human being and violate the fourteenth amendment.

If one had to build a highly complex space station and keep it operational, it would not happen by simply possessing the blue print and building material; one would need a highly skilled work force. Similarly, to build a fully grown highly intelligent human being and keep him/her operational a highly intelligent life-force is needed; because the mere possession of the genetic codes and building materials are not enough. We can get a faint idea about what human life-force is if we look at ant life-force. Ants do not have brain. They, therefore, can not think, plan or learn. Yet ants are able build complex castles under the ground; find the right type of food; and inform other ants (by releasing chemicals) of the presence of food. They can perform these tasks because the life-force (which some people call as instinct) in them, propels them to perform these tasks.

Some people may argue that it is acceptable to destroy a human embryo because it does not have brain or intelligence. However, the human life-force within a human embryo has more intelligence than the most intelligent human brain. This is evident by the fact that, this life-force can transform a single cell embryo into full grown human being with a very complex brain; a fete no human brain has achieved.

Some people may have an honest doubt about human personhood of embryos and fetuses. However, they must err in favor of them beings human persons; just as we always err in favor of an accused person being innocent of a crime until proven otherwise. It is also similar to a situation where we are on a hunting trip; and are ready to shoot an object we are sure is a deer. However, we hold our fire, because some people around us express concern, that, what we are about to shoot could be a human being.

Some people justify abortion because they want to protect the mother

[Christofine]

Thats a great article! It says everything.

[Dougmo60]

Amen to that!