Quote:
Originally Posted by The Batlord
We don't give something rights for being human (or at least it doesn't necessarily make sense to). We give something rights based on it's status as a person, which is distinct from being human. Some scientists, for instance, argue that dolphins and chimpanzees deserve to have at least some rights granted to a "person". Of course, defining what is or is not a person is difficult and sort of impossible to nail down perfectly. A zygote or an embryo or a sperm cell or an egg, clearly have no properties associated with personhood. They don't even have any sort of consciousness, for one. |
Status? How so? If you're referring to third world countries or something, I think it would be much easier to keep this discussion focused on the United States, where the "human rights", like right to live, are pretty much universal regardless of status.