The push to confer full “personhood” status on every fertilized human egg has been rejected by voters and lawmakers in state after state, including deep-red Mississippi.
But activists are cautiously hopeful that their cause could get a boost from Republicans who are about to assume leadership in Washington.
Georgia Representative Tom Price, who has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has twice co-sponsored federal legislation that would define fertilized human eggs as legal persons — a move that would outlaw not just abortion, but also potentially birth control pills and other common methods of contraception.
About the Author Reprints
This is so flipping dumb, and I hattee trump with all my life.
So failed in vitro fertilization is manslaughter? In Ohio they are or have passed a law that bans abortions past 6 weeks, only thing is you have to wait at least 6 weeks to qualify for an abortion because otherwise it will be so small that it could be missed. Banning abortions beyond six weeks is banning abortion.
The ethical question really is, should a woman who does not love a man be forced to be one with him in blood for all eternity? (or for the duration of life on earth?), say its a case of a very abusive relationship, she will have to deal with her abuser all her life, say its the case of forced sex or rape? Incest? The decision to join a person in evolution, for all time, thats a very personal and hard decision. Its not always a case of being irresponsible, it often a case of being uneducated, of not knowing how easy it is to get pregnant. This is a very hard decision for a female to make it is never without serious amounts of stress and consideration, especially when we are told we are murderers and mistreated by anyone who knows. People who point out that adoption is an option, well, I personally lack trust in anyone, there is so much sexual abuse, I myself have been a victim of I would find it hard to leave a part of myself in someon elses hands, even in the rare cases of open adoption, you dont know what goes on behind closed doors, it is very difficult emotionally for anyone to handle, pregnancy and giving birth is also a very hard an traumatic thing. If you have never been pregnant, male or female you should abstain from commenting on this issue, this is something I know personally and have lost many years of sleep over.
We don’t want to go back to women overdosing on suppliments trying to forces a natural abortion, causing their babies to be deformed, or deadly coat hanger abortions, or worse yet stressed out not wanting or ready to be mothers, killing their new born babies and young children.
People do not know that abortion is limited to the first trimester, except in cases where the mothers life is at risk. There is alot gruesome of misinformation out there, but those late term abortion pictures are the illegal operations that will pop up under laws that restrict early hospital d and c abortions.
There was a satire that showed a picture of a new born baby and it said “Here is a new born baby. Five minutes ago Republicans cared about it.”
If you care about babies, then lets makes sure every new mother has money for formula and diapers.
Who said “failed in vitro is manslaughter”. Me thinks thou doth protest too much… We should make fornication and adultery illegal to reduce the sexual activity between foolish and immature people not ready to commit to a life together. New mother’s should get money from their husbands. None of the situations you spin justify the killing of an innocent person.
Clearing – Trump is trying to create his own altered reality…
But in this case – anyone doubting a women who is pregnant – is not really a carrying a human being – until it’s conveniently developed to a certain point
is altering reality. Again the word is convenience and not science.
Fertilized are people, from the very first cell division. At that moment, you have a person.
This country is becoming totally asinine. Dark Ages, anyone? WTF?
Agreed! Only in the “Dark Ages” would dads and moms murder their children… legally!!
The “Dark Ages” of Trump is here, allowing children to die at the hands of their mothers and fathers…What has this world become?
A fertilized egg is a human being at the one-cell stage. When the cell divides, it becomes a fertilized cell at the two-cell stage and so on. At some point,the brain stem begins to develop, then the heart, the skeleton, the muscles, and other organs.
Since the sequence from fertilization to birth generally takes 40 weeks, it seems absurd to consider a fertilized egg as a human being.
But the Creator is not absurd. And He said “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” And the prophet said to Him: “…Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed”. So Personhood is not dependent upon physical substance, which is not absurd at all, since people are obviously body, & soul, and not merely body alone.
Also, fertilization occurs prior to cell division. But you are correct that you have a distinct human being even as a single cell. And that unique person can be identified physically by their unique DNA. (Which is at least one Y chromosome different than his mother’s in about 50% of all cases).
Anyone who thinks that the pill is a method of killing a fertilized egg is crazy. The pill prevents the UNFERTILIZED egg from every coming out. Thus, the egg can never get fertilized to begin with. Plus, many women take hormonal birth control as a way to prevent hormones from going crazy and making them have the symptoms of pregnancy or menopause when they are not pregnant, in addition to many having other conditions such as seizures caused by raging hormones. Are you suggesting that anyone who does not want to have these should get a complete hysterectomy in their TWENTIES in order to prevent this?
I’m only suggesting that we should not kill innocent people.
AS: OCP act three ways. One, they prevent ovulation — but not always. Two, they also alter cervical mucus to make a woman less fertile. Three, they alter the endometrium to make it hostile to implantation, so when a woman taking OCP conceives, the embryo is effectively miscarried, or aborted.
Also, human beings are beautifully designed. Hormones don’t just go crazy, and they don’t rage. 🙂 Learn more about hormones and fertility at http://www.FactsAboutFertility.org.
Those among us, (like Gualberto Garcia Jones) who draw the line for Personhood at fertilization are certain never to kill an innocent person by abortion. Those who draw that line elsewhere will have to explain themselves to God if they are wrong. This is a serious matter. Consider your choice carefully. http://theweeklyworldview.com
So, you advocate the Western equivalent of Sharia Law? From a purely OB clinical perspective, fully HALF of fertilized ova fail to attach and begin the gestation process. That works out to about 4 million fetal “people” per year just in the US. Surely, all of those “deaths” deserve criminal grand jury investigations, no?
Spare us your piety.
Doug,
I just don’t share your adolescent need for an angry anthropomorphic Imaginary Friend.
And, anyone who advocates, even implicitly, that the secular law should be imposed on women’s reproductive rights is simply advocating for an unconstitutional theocracy.
I’ll take my chances with your God if that’s the price of assuring that women, including my daughter and daughter-in-law, retain control over their reproductive rights.
Three things seem to me to be critical to personhood: our ability to engage emotionally and intellectually with the world; our autonomy; and the investment others have in us. I suspect many would add the fact that our DNA is human as a fourth component, but I doubt it is one that will stand for another century – we will see our own creations that have no DNA at all, ore significantly altered DNA, assume person-like characteristics in time.
At any rate, elevating a fertilized egg to person-hood before it develops any of the first three is a stretch too far. Doing so at the expense of every woman who has every become pregnant with no desire to bear a child – whether through failure of contraception, rape or incest, is unconscionable.
so let god judge them and let them make their own choice.
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Thanks for writing this. Will not it on my blog. Price is clearly a “Personhood at Conception” guy. Whether he tries to act on that extreme, untenable view remains to be seen. I posted about him here: http://regionalextensioncenter.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-price-is-right-wing-that-is.html
Bobby: A baby dying before she is born is different than someone killing her. And I believe that all of those babies who die before birth are with the Living God, and their company is one of the reasons He’s too busy to deal the final Judgment to murderers like you. But don’t worry… He’ll get to you.
Bobby: I am not implying “implicitly” that the secular law should be imposed against murder. I’m insisting upon it explicitly.
Steve Demuth: Your desire to kill your own grandchildren is off putting to say the least. And there are many disabled people who do not meet your three bogus criteria for Personhood. Would you have them killed as well? God determines Personhood, and since you do not know about Him, you are not qualified to speak to the issue. Take your chances indeed…
McBurney is a troll who should just return to Breitbart and leave this to the adults..
Why do you turn off the “reply” Bobby? Are you scared to debate an adult who is obviously your intellectual and spiritual superior? You should get over that fear. You might just learn and grow if you are not afraid to learn from those wiser than you are.