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Person 1: If I showed you human and rat embryos, you couldn’t even tell the difference. Person 2 (our hero): True, but only because the naked eye can’t see the important differences. Fortunately, our value doesn’t depend on our appearance.

Human vs. Rat Embryos

All members of the human species have equal intrinsic value. Just like it’s wrong to devalue people based on race, sex, age, size, or intelligence, it’s wrong to devalue people based on appearance. What matters is the sort of being we are, not what we look like or what we do.

First posted August 17, 2018

Suggested:

Person 1: Even a worm is more complex than a human embryo. Person 2 (our hero): True enough. Which would you say is more “complex”: a newborn infant or an adult African elephant?

Our hero: Racism, sexism, and homophobia are wrong because they devalue people based on superficial qualities. We’re all members of the human species, so we’re all equally valuable. Fetuses are members of the human species, too.

Person 1 (our hero): You and I equally deserve the right to life. So do all our friends. What do we have in common that makes us equal? Person 2: We can all survive on our own. Person 1 (our hero): Hm. If that’s the right explanation, ducks deserve the same right to life as us.

Person 1: Why do you even care about the fetus? Person 2 (our hero): If the fetus is growing, it must be alive. If it has human parents, it must be human. And living humans, or human beings like you and me, are valuable, aren’t they?