Thread by @JMHendersonSr

In response to @AOC’s #idiotic assertion that #US operated #detention facilities are #concentrationcamps, @Liz_Wheller posted a comment that @PPFA abortion businesses are the #concentration #camps we have to worry about.

@EmmaBella212 took exception to her observation. I replied, observing that #blastocysts, #embryos, and #fetuses are #human #beings.

@EricBrown1982 takes exception to my assertion that #science defines the offspring of #human #parents as #human and/or my assertion that #science confirms that the #blastocyst, the #embryo, and the #fetus are all #living #beings.

Eric began by noting that his college degree was in Biology and that mine must not be. He then compounded his errors (my college degree was in Biology) by asserting that, if #blastocysts, #embryos, and #fetuses are #human #beings, so are each of his individual blood cells.

You can #lead a #horse to #water, but you can’t #make him #drink. The #well of #scientific #literature that #confirms the #vitality and #humanity of the #offspring of #human #parents is deep and refreshing. Will #Eric drink? Or will he hate #knowledge?

Let's begin with this discussion of the topic:

princeton.edu/~prolife/artic….

It is a rich resource on the topic.

Of course, you'll want to challenge its premises and assertions. Let me know your thoughts.

"Fertilization is the process by which male and female haploid gametes (sperm and egg) unite to produce a genetically distinct individual."

link.springer.com/art.../10.1007…

"The life cycle of mammals begins when a sperm enters an egg."

nature.com/articles/natur…

“Human life begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm ... unites with a female gamete or oocyte ... to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marked the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”

Keith L. Moore, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology, at 2, 16 (7th ed. Saunders 2003.).

“It is the penetration of the ovum by a sperm and the resulting mingling of nuclear material each brings to the union that constitutes the initiation of the life of a new individual.”

Clark Edward and Corliss Patten’s Human Embryology, at 30 (McGraw–Hill Inc.)

“‘The zygote is human life… there is one fact that no one can deny; Human beings begin at conception.’” “Zygote is a term for a newly conceived life after the sperm and the egg cell meet but before the embryo begins to divide.”

Landrum B. Shettles, MD, PhD, “Rites of Life: The Scientific Evidence for Life Before Birth” at 40 (Zondervan 1983) (Dr. Shettles pioneered in vitro fertilization techniques and accomplished the first successful in vitro fertilization).

“The zygote and early embryo are living human organisms.” Keith L. Moore & T.V.N. Persaud Before We Are Born – Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects, at 500 (W.B. Saunders Co. 1998. 5th ed.)

“Thus a new cell is formed from the union of a male and a female gamete. [sperm and egg cells] The cell, referred to as the zygote, contains a new combination of genetic material, resulting in an individual different from either parent and from anyone else in the world.”

Olds, Obstetric Nursing, at 136 (Addison – Wesley 1980)

“[C]onception refers to the union of the male and female pronuclear elements of procreation from which a new living being develops. It is synonymous with the terms fecundation, impregnation, and fertilization … The zygote thus formed represents the beginning of a new life.”

J.P. Greenhill and E.A. Freidman. Biological Principles and Modern Practice of Obstetrics, at 17, 23. (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Publishers. 1974)

“A zygote, formed by the union of an oocyte and a sperm, is the beginning of a new human being.”

Keith L. Moore, Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology, at 2 (7th edition. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2008)

“Although life is a continuous process, fertilization… is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte.”

Ronan O’Rahilly and Fabiola Miller, Human Embryology and Teratology, at 8 (3rd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 2001).

“[O]rganisms, however large and complex they might be as full grown, begin life as a single cell. This is true for the human being, for instance, who begins life as a fertilized ovum.”

Morris Krieger “The Human Reproductive System” at 88 (Sterling Pub. Co 1969).

“The formation, maturation and meeting of a male and female sex cell are all preliminary to their actual union into a combined cell, or zygote, which definitely marks the beginning of a new individual. The penetration of the ovum by the spermatozoon, and ... [cont'd]

the coming together and pooling of their respective nuclei, constitutes the process of fertilization.”

Leslie Brainerd Arey, “Developmental Anatomy” at 55 (7th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1974)

"The science of the development of the individual before birth is called embryology. It is the story of miracles, describing the means by which a single microscopic cell is transformed into a complex human being. ... [cont'd]

Genetically the zygote is complete. It represents a new single celled individual.”

Thibodeau, G.A., and Anthony, C.P., Structure and Function of the Body, at 409-419 (8th edition, St. Louis: Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishers, St. Louis, 1988).

“A zygote (a single fertilized egg cell) represents the onset of pregnancy and the genesis of new life.”

Turner, J.S., and Helms, D.B., Lifespan Developmental, at 53 (2nd ed., CBS College Publishing 1983).

“Almost all higher animals start their lives from a single cell, the fertilized ovum (zygote)… The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual.”

Carlson, Bruce M. Patten’s Foundations of Embryology, at 3 (6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996)

“It is the penetration of the ovum by a spermatozoan and resultant mingling of the nuclear material each brings to the union that constitutes the culmination of the process of fertilization and marks the initiation of the life of a new individual.”

Patten, Bradley M., Human Embryology, at 43 (3rd ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 1968).

I appreciate that this was a fair amount of information to cull, but engaged in the effort on a suspension of my certainty that you do not care what science says on the topic, but that you were comfortable hiding behind your assertion that the science supported your position.

Still, you have to get to the comfortable place where you can say, "I know ___ are human beings, but I believe that ____'s self-determination of interest justifies ________."

Fill blank one in with embryos, Jews, African slaves, Native Americans, or Japanese Americans.

You can fill in the second blank with "a woman's," or "the Reich's" or "a plantation owner's," or relocated Western Europeans, or "fearful wartime Americans."

And you can fill in the third blank with abortion, the Holocaust, slavery, the trail of tears, or internment.

I realize it's not a comfortable position to admit that science says, "hey there, you're killing human beings, you do know that right?" But once you acknowledge it, then you can become really effective in justifying it.

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