Much of the discussion about embryonic stem cell research and human cloning centers around when human life begins—as if that is a matter of opinion. I did some basic research and found that indeed, human life begins, biologically, at the completion of fertilization. That is simple, basic biology and embryology. Statements that it begins at implantation, or when the heart starts beating, or at birth, or at self consciousness, or whatever, are nothing but junk science and postmodern spin intended for use in winning political arguments.
Whether a human life in its earliest stages has actual meaning or value is not a question that can be answered by science. Rather, it is a matter of philosophy, values, morality, or religion, as Princeton’s notorious Peter Singer, among others, note in today’s New York Times. As to issues of morality and ethics, each of us has as much a right to an equal say as the most prestigious scientist or bioethicist Ph.D.
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