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Person 1: I think we should protect actual humans, not potential ones. Person 2 (our hero): I agree. I want to protect fetuses because strange as it may seem, I think they’re already tiny actual human people.

Fetuses Aren’t Just Potential Humans

From a biological standpoint, fertilization creates a new living human organism. But remember that oftentimes when pro-choice people say “human”, they really mean something like “valuable person”. We should be prepared to give an argument that every living human organism is in fact a valuable person.

First posted July 24, 2018

Suggested:

Person 1: I think we should focus on helping the kids who are already alive. Person 2 (our hero): I care a ton about kids after birth, and I agree that we should focus on actual, living people. But biologically speaking, a fetus is already alive.

Our hero: A human fetus displays the key characteristics of life, such as cellular reproduction, responding to stimuli, and converting food into energy. It’s debatable whether viruses are alive, but it seems pretty clear that a human fetus is biologically alive.

Person 1: It’s alive, but it’s not really alive, you know? Person 2 (our hero): I think I might know what you mean. Maybe you’re saying that a fetus is biologically alive, but it’s not a valuable person yet. Is that right?

Person 1 (our hero): I’d say there’s a certain fundamental equality between you, me, and billions of others. Person 2: Yeah, I agree. Person 1 (our hero): That’s kind of amazing. We’re all so different! We vary by race, sex, intelligence, etc. What do we have in common that makes us equal?