[sneakypete]

My cat has a heartbeat and brain activity. Should it have the same rights as you and me?

Why not? That makes as much sense as claiming a 1 second mix of sperm and egg is a human. The cat is clearly brighter than this new "human",and is probably more rational than most adult fundies.

[beavus]

The cat is clearly brighter than this new "human",and is probably more rational than most adult fundies.

So rights should be based upon brightness and rationality?

[beavus]

That makes as much sense as claiming a 1 second mix of sperm and egg is a human.

Of course if it is human sperm and eggs then it is human even at zero seconds.

[hocndoc]

Sneakypete said, ""The cat is
clearly brighter than this new "human",and is probably more rational than most adult fundies. ""

Sneaky, are you proposing intelligence and rationality as necessary criteria for the right to life? If so, then who gets to set the minimum IQ and the standards for rationality? How will we measure it, and will children become non-persons until they pass the State's test?

Stalin was famous for that, I believe, along with deciding that Jews were not persons.