A Fetus is Morally Equivalent to a Mature Human

In my opponent’s next round, I’d like him to tell me if he believes that raped women should have the right to terminate their pregnancies and whether he believes women should have the right to abort fetuses with a high risk of developing severe mental defects, etc. I also apologize for the delay and the rushed arguments. Pro’s Case1. Photo Album ArgumentIn order to address this argument, we must first establish that membership to the human community (FMTTHC) is not based on potential. In other words, just because the fetus will become someone both Pro and I agree has FMTTHC, it does not necessarily follow that the fetus should have membership. To illustrate this, we can look at drinking rights. Just because I will become somebody who is of the legal age to drink (19 in Ontario), doesn’t mean I can drink right now. Now, if I understand correctly, Pro’s “Photo Album Argument” goes something like this-1. Moral value is based on the degree of MTTHC.2. FMTTHC is based solely on identity.3. All human beings from the moment of conception have a unique identity.4. Since fetuses have the same degree of identity as adult humans, the moral value of the fetus is equivalent to the moral value of an adult human. This argument falls because nothing validates point 2. In order for Pro’s argument to stand, he must refute all other prerequisites for FMTTHC which I will present in my case.2. SLEDThis isn’t really an argument, this is a rebuttal, so even if I drop some of these points, I should be fine. I won’t argue about natural abortions either, that’s a rebuttal as well. Size: I agree that rights should not be granted based solely on appearance, however, there’s a much bigger difference between a cluster of cells and a newborn than a four year old and a fully developed human. Even conjoined twins and burn victims are recognizably human. An embryo is not. Level of Development: Again, there’s a much bigger difference between a cluster of cells and a mentally delayed person. An embryo may not even have a brain, or a thinking process. Additionally, at least a coma patient has normal brain, organ, and respiratory functions, a fetus does not. Environment: Environment does matter when it infringes on somebody else’s personal space. If your mother grew to twenty times her size, and you crawled into your mother’s womb and demanded she carry you around for three trimesters, I would say she has the right to kick you out. It may not make you any less human, but it sure would make you a sick bastard at least. Dependency: First of all, lifeguards are paid to save lives, it’s their job. However, ordinary people are not obligated to jump into a pool to save someone, as noble as that might sound. Additionally, spending thirty minutes to swim someone to safety is not quite the same as lugging around a parasite in your womb for nine months while suffering bouts of morning sickness and other pregnancy related issues such as childbirth. Con’s CasePro challenges me to present traits that excludes the fetus or embryo from being a part of the human community. In order to do so, we must first establish what it means to be a “human being” and what it means to be a member of the human community.1. Are fetuses recognizably human? Is an acorn the same as a tree? No, and when confronted with why, most people will point out the differences in appearance and the way their cells function. Generally speaking, the term “human being” also refers to something that remotely resembles and behaves like a human. Does an embryo resemble a human? Can a zygote function like a human? The answer is again, no. For the first one or two weeks of conception, embryos are barely visible to the naked eye and contain no skeletal system, no bodies, no brains, and no internal organs. Even fetuses are a long stretch from human- they don’t breathe, they eat and excrete via the umbilical cord, and they can’t produce any sound at all. During some stages of development, fetuses have eyes on stalks, gills, webbed fingers; embryos can even split in two and recombine into one. An acorn may be part of the tree family, but it clearly cannot be considered a tree. Similarly, an egg may hatch into a chicken, but nobody considers an egg a chicken. There is a similar line with fetuses and human beings, and this line is drawn at childbirth.2. Does a fetus have a social identity? If I had an account on DDO which could not participate in any forum or any debate, cannot be seen or recognized and carries no official username, can I really be considered part of the DDO community? A big part of being part of a community is the ability to be recognized, identified, and interact with other members of the community. A fetus is exempt from any form of meaningful social interaction. It can’t even be identified, since names are only officially bestowed after birth. The point at which one becomes a member of a community isn’t entirely empirical and factual; a large part of membership is a value judgment made by society in response to social customs and needs and generally speaking, we find that society only officially recognizes fetuses as human when they are born. ConclusionIf we take away the romanticism, what we find is that the fetus, in essence, is a living and breathing tumor embedded in the womb of a woman. Thank you.