ThruFire

Burning off the dross

March 12, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
1 Comment

“Fertilized Eggs” vs Zygotic Human Embryos

Is it okay to use the term “fertilized egg”?

Not if you’re referring to human beings after conception.

The problem lies in how the words are used. Fertilization is an initiating process – a verb. With humans, it is not an end state of that process. People are born – not hatched, so the gestational environment (egg) that avians require is not the same needed by mammals*. If a human egg (oocyte) is fertilized (undergoes that process) it is no longer an egg. It is transformed. It changes its state of being.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (HESCR) and abortion proponents play word games, using a valid phrase “fertilized egg”, but fallaciously redefine the meaning to a thing which exists after the process is finished. It’s only valid to say it’s a “fertilized egg” between the time the zona pellucida has been penetrated until amphimixis is complete – at which point you have a zygote – a one cell human being. The actually process of fertilization is no longer occurring to an egg – which has been transformed.

Here’s an illustration to clarify:

Someone is holding a glass of water. We could say – that’s a melted ice-cube, and understand that at some point prior to our immediate observation an ice-cube as an object was in the glass.

But would we talk about drinking a melted ice-cube as though the cube still existed?

Now we’re going to extract a few drops from this “melted ice-cube”. Where’s the ice-cube? It’s not an ice-cube anymore. The ice-cube has ceased to be.

Now let’s take our illustration one step further. Suppose while holding the glass of “melted ice-cube”, the “melted ice-cube” started to grow, filling up the glass on it’s own. Where’s the ice-cube now?

Melting is a process that transforms the state of water from a solid to a liquid. At the end of melting, there is no identifiable object “ice-cube”. We can only understand it as having existed at the time of the transformation, but not after.

The same thing applies to eggs and fertilization. Human eggs are not self governing “growing” organisms – but that describes living human beings.

The Endowment for Human Development (EHD) appears to have solid neutral information on human development and the zygote.

The next time someone refers to a “fertilized egg” ask them a simple question: “Do you mean after conception – when the pronuclei have fused?” (Or you could ask them if they were hatched…)

It might lead to a discussion about when we become human beings.

Note: When writing this post I was quite surprised at how many professional organizations used the term “fertilized egg” when referring to a human zygote. Would they be upset if others called them “fertilized eggs”?

*Okay – so the platypus is a mammal that lays eggs. Humans are not platypus.

Related Posts:
Common Evidence – What is it?

March 12, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
1 Comment

HESCR “expert” Bill Clinton scrambles eggs

Bill Clinton’s appearance on Larry King Live last night with Dr. Sanjay Gupta has set off a spate of fertilized embryo blog posts that wonder what he was saying.

There’s a great deal of confusion out there, so to make it clear:

After conception, there is no such thing as a “fertilized egg”.

Don’t pay attention to on-line or recent dictionaries either, they’ve all been polluted.

The oocyte (egg) ceases to exist, once amphimixis (the DNA blending) is complete. In fact the moment the zona pellucida is penetrated major reactions occur, which transform both the egg and sperm.

When the transformation is finished, there is no longer a sperm cell or an egg cell. Two individual cells have become one. It is a zygote – a single cell human being.

Robert P. George lays it out clearly in his book with Christopher Tollefsen: Embryo: A Defense of Human Life

George goes through the whole process and backs it with medical and scientific references.

We lose when we continually refer to such a thing as a “fertilized egg” because that deceptively masks over what the zygote really is – a formed, existing human being at the most primary stage of life.

It also glosses over the amazing fact that the conception process is a unique, life-giving event for individual human beings and provides the flesh & blood basis for all human rights.

Related Posts:
“Fertilized Eggs” vs Zygotic Human Embryos

March 3, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
Comments Off on Burning of HMS Gaspee – Inspired Boston Tea Party – a true story

Burning of HMS Gaspee – Inspired Boston Tea Party – a true story

Brownell-Burning of the GaspeeThe Bostonians were late to the party – in 1772 Rhode Islanders decided upon a more radical protest of taxation: they burned the HMS Gaspee, a royal revenue cutter, to the waterline.
Not sure what the equivalent would look like today, but clearly the whole taxation thing, along with the President’s calls for us to invest in the market (?!!) could fan some dissenting flames.

Remember – if you’re going to make tea, you have to heat the water first.

March 3, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
3 Comments

Pro-Life Categories – a framework

I’m trying to determine the lowest number of categories one could reasonably identify most pro-life efforts/groups. The determining factor is by function – the primary function performed by the group.

Here’s the list of categories:

  1. Actions: events/activities. March for Life, 40 Days for Life, Right to Life, Priests for Life.
  2. Journalism: investigative journalism/reporting. LiveAction.
  3. Newsfeeds/distribution: News monitoring, consolidation. LifeSite, LifeNews.
  4. Education/Training: Bio-ethics, lifestyle, media. STR, LTI, FamilyLife, FoF, churches.
  5. Direct Support: outreach/healing support ministries. HBI, CareNet, Rachel’s Vineyard, StandupGirl.
  6. Testimony: public human interest/evidence impact. Operation OutCry, Silent No More.
  7. Arts: expressive/artistic media efforts. Bella, Volition, etc.

Some organizations overlap and provide multiple services. Some are difficult to identify as clearly belonging in one group or the other.

Are there any categories that are missing?  Are there any groups that would break this categorization?  Thoughts, comments?  (Thanks!)

February 24, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
Comments Off on What is the fetus?

What is the fetus?

The fetus, at all gestational stages, from conception to birth, is a human being who deserves the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

My argument is made in two portions: 1) what is the substance and; 2) is there moral agency?

For discussion purposes I’ll use the word “fetus”, which has two meanings: 1) child/offspring;  2) a medical descriptive for the maturation stage of gestation after organ formation has completed. As most pro-choice advocates argue using “fetus” in a general sense, I’ll use it in that manner to mean offspring of either embryonic or fetal stages of gestation.

If you plan on arguing, you must present objective reasons which are descriptive of the “object” of the fetus, otherwise your commentary is merely opinion.  Past commenters have called my valid reasoning “opinion” without supportive reasoning of why they thought it was subjective.  Please don’t do that – I’ll address thoughtful arguments.  If you want to bleat talking points, do so elsewhere.

1. What is the substance?

Abortion undeniably destroys and removes human flesh and blood.  Photos and scientific evidence testify to the presence of human flesh and blood as the fetus.  

  1. The living fetus is a self-organizing, growing, human being (homo sapiens) – scientifically the law of biogenesis shows that two human beings pro-create after their own kind, so each human fetus has both a mother – the pregnant woman, and a father. (Note present tense.)
  2. Each human fetus has a unique flesh/blood identity (DNA & chromosomal patterns, including gender).  This flesh and blood is not an organ of the woman’s body. It is a separate human being.  I could provide numerous scientific & medical references that speak to the human nature of the fetus which explain sperm and oocyte joining through development to birth. Feel free to consult a solid medical embryology text.  From an intellectually honest standpoint, one must concede that the substance of the fetus, being flesh and blood, is indeed a living human being of the same substance basis as all other human beings, otherwise one must provide solid evidence to the contrary.

2. Does this human being have moral agency?

Philosophically, should the fetus be regarded as a human being when it comes to rights and responsibilities? 

While scientific fact validates the fetus as a human being as far as flesh and blood is concerned, a valid argument must be made that the pre-born are not human being with an intrinsic right to life, to which all other human beings claim possession.  Do not present Blackmun’s circular and irrational Roe opinion.  (We need not answer the difficult question of when life begins…).  As everyone was once a pre-born human being, the burden of proof rests upon the pro-choice camp in denying their own rights during some portion of their own life. If you wish to detach your “person” from your body (in effect splitting one human being into two or more elements) you must explain why destroying your own body would not destroy your person – the test you are establishing for the fetal human being.  

Size, level of development, environment and degree of dependency are the only factors which differentiate between one’s pre-born self and where you are now. Morally, these factors do not negate the rights of human beings, including the foundational right to life, upon which all others hang. Throughout our legal system we have laws to stop discrimination against each of these factors.  Also discriminating against pre-born humans on sentience fails when the same test is applied to other human beings.  Such arguments present a functional or utilitarian description of human beings which lend themselves to cruel discriminatory practices. 

On the moral agency factor of dependency – all rights come with moral responsibilities which cannot be rejected because we ourselves are a result of such responsibilities. Such responsibilities are upheld in law. The greatest is: do not murder, particularly those who are completely dependent upon us.  We do not allow murder of our newborn children.  Our responsibilities with regard to justice and to each other requires us to defend the innocent against their destruction at the hands of the powerful.

Disregarding the principle of defense of the weak and innocent invites brute force against them as a people group – which describes abortion perfectly. It’s also completely fallacious.

Brute force renders any question about the humanity of the pre-born superfluous – there is no reason to ask what it is if the sole intention is to destroy it.

If the fetus is an innocent human being, then no excuse, justifies their direct killing.

February 11, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
12 Comments

BioSLED – best argument against abortion-choice

This is the best rational argument against abortion I’ve found to date. Every counter-argument comes right back to these same human rights issues, and is thus refutable.

Everyone concedes abortion kills something. The crucial question is “what is killed?”

If the unborn are not human, no justification for elective abortion is necessary. But if the unborn are human, no justification for elective abortion is adequate. (Koukl, Precious Unborn Human Persons, p. 7)

Morally, it’s wrong to kill innocent human beings.

thumbsucker

We base that morality on three factors:

  1. Intrinsic value of human beings – an intangible quality.
  2. Common nature of human flesh and blood – biological evidence of Law of Biogenesis, uniqueness of DNA & embryological/anatomical science.
  3. The equality of common physical attributes of human beings – Size, Level of Development, Environment, and Degree of Dependency (SLED). 

If we do not morally discriminate against human beings outside the womb with these attributes (we treat them equally as humans under the law) then such conclusions also apply to pre-born human beings because:

  • Size – Hillary Clinton is not less human than Shaquille O’Neal. An embryo is not less human than a newborn.
  • Level of Development – Toddlers are less developed than pre-adolescents who are less developed than adults. An embryo is the organ development stage of a human being while in the next stage, a fetus’s organs mature, just as an adolescent’s organs mature through puberty.  
  • Environment – Astronauts and scuba divers do not lose their human nature in non-supportive environments.  A womb is the natural environment for the pre-born at their level of development. Exposing human beings to unnatural, uninhabitable environments is an act of murder.
  • Dependency – We don’t kill those who depend upon us. Infants depend upon parents/guardians for all their primary needs. Our dependencies extend to each other, and without the defense of the goodness of meeting human dependencies, none of us would be alive.

Discussing pro-life views shouldn’t be a monologue. Provide your reasoning, but also ask others questions to bring them into conversation. Seek points you agree on; ask why they are important. Establish common ground before refuting objections. Your response will then be appropriate.

Here’s how to refute two very common objections to BioSLED: 1) Non-Personhood and 2) Mother’s Rights.

  1. Refuting Non-Personhood Arguments – such arguments deny the intrinsic quality of human beings by falsely assuming (petitio principii) two components (body and person), instead of one. These are a play on Level of Development. Gently ask: “Would you be willing to undergo the same destruction of your body that is performed on the unborn during an abortion, and if not – why?” They can’t prove their own personhood without referring to their own physical body, so gently question them until they do. We know scientifically from the moment of conception the pre-born also has a human body. We can’t establish tests for denying the rights of pre-born human beings that we, who also have human flesh and blood, are unwilling to take – that’s discrimination. Refuting this works best in-person, not over the Internet.

  2. Refuting Bodily Autonomy Arguments (aka Mother’s Rights) – some argue gestation is a special right granted by the mother. This goes back to Dependency. We don’t kill those who are dependent upon us. Some argue biological dependency is different, but this falsely assumes (petitio principii) the responsibility to be humane can have exceptions because an innocent human being is undeniably killed. Further, such killing is an act of commission, meaning the violence of abortion is a direct appeal to force (argumentum ad baculum) on the mother’s behalf. Specifically, force is appealed to based on the victim’s Environment – the natural location in the womb of the child’s mother. We wouldn’t want anyone we were dependent upon to justify killing us because we existed in an environment they claimed.

Although BioSLED is an exceptionally strong argument against abortion, it needs to be conveyed gracefully, and the best way to do that is in person in a non-threatening way. Those who defend abortion usually do so for very personal reasons. So no matter how logical, the heart has to change.

This argument is like a very sharp Japanese Samurai sword – it is not meant to be handled without great discipline, respect or care for the other person. Use it only in love.

If you find this valuable – please link to it. If you think it needs improvement – let me know in the comments. Thanks!

This argument is based on the work of Scott Klusendorf of Life Training Institute, Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason, Francis Beckwith’s Defending Life and the SLED acronym came from Stephen Schwarz who wrote The Moral Question of Abortion.

February 4, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
1 Comment

Steve Wagner’s One Minute Pro-Life Argument

Steve Wagner provides a nice quick, one minute pro-life argument:

If the unborn is growing, it must be alive. And if it has human parents, it must be human. And living humans, or human beings like you and I, are valuable aren’t they? From conception, all that’s added to the unborn is a proper environment and adequate nutrition. But those are the same things all of us need. And not only that. There’s one quality all of us have equally that demands equal treatment: we all have a human nature. Racism and sexism are wrong because they pick out external differences and ignore the underlying similarity between men and women, blacks and whites. And my concern is for your rights as a woman, that you can vindicate them against the will of the majority, but you can only vindicate your rights if you base them on your human nature. But the unborn also has that same human nature, so shouldn’t we protect him from discrimination just like we protect minorities and women?

February 3, 2009
by Chris Arsenault
Comments Off on The Pill doesn’t giggle when you squeeze it.

The Pill doesn’t giggle when you squeeze it.

I was browsing through twitter follow lists the other morning and found someone joking about birth control pills being cheaper than children. Of course most people laugh when they hear such things, because parents know the expense of raising children. We often comment on the amount of time, treasure and talent it takes to raise them properly. 

The problem with joking about the cost of birth control in any form is that it easily leads to saying abortion is cheaper than children.  We put a value upon a life – something we find repugnant when done by slavers or pimps.  The Pill is simply not the only thing called “Birth Control”. Planned Parenthood and many others explicitly call abortion “birth control”. Statistically almost 50% of abortions performed today are used in place of other contraceptive methods, because women are coming back for second or third abortions in the USA, while other countries, it’s even greater.

I’m pretty sure that the twitter commenter wasn’t thinking about abortion, but it’s the overwhelming sense that children aren’t welcomed as a natural and desirable part of sexual intercourse that pervades our society today.

As the kids get older – they understand that.