Here's an argument from a scientific viewpoint from the NUSCCB: " "Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon) with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei ... and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning ... of a human being." (Moore, Keith L., Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker, Inc., 1988, p.2.) "Although human life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed. ... The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity." (O'Rahilly, Ronan and Müller, Fabiola. Human Embryology and Teratology, 2nd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29). "Almost all higher animals start their lives from a single cell, the fertilized ovum (zygote). ... The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual." (Carlson, Bruce M., Patten's Foundations of Embryology, 6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996, p.3.) "Embryo: An organism in the earliest stage of development; in a man, from the time of conception to the end of the second month in the uterus." (Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993, p. 146.) "The fertilized egg, now properly called an embryo, must make its way to the uterus." (Carlson, Bruce M., Human Embryology and Developmental Biology. St. Louis: Mosby, 1994, p.3). (See also www.nccbuscc.org/ prolife/issues/bioethic/fact298.htm for numerous quotations from medical texts.)"
I posed a question earlier....what about a cloned cell then? A clone would meet your definition of life. Are you for cloning then I assume?
I cloned embryo would still be a person, but it's unnatural to play with natural selection.
When I said "forcing it down our throats" it was intended at the conservatives in general that are opposed to stem cell research....not necessarily you specifically. But my point is...while I accept your decision to not use any treatments from embryonic stem cells as your fundamental right (although you haven't answered my question about that)...conservatives opposed to this are actively trying to STOP ME from choosing what I deem to be acceptable. Vast difference.
I would not use embryonic stem cells and as for people stopping you from choosing what you deem to be acceptable, I would say that the majority rules and society bases it's morality upon the majority.
