
I thought I would reply to some comments on my blog with another posting because I want to write at length about this topic.

Biology has no distinction for "human being". Human fetuses are certainly human, but the concept of "human being" pertains to the concept of personhood - this does not fall under any discipline of science. You hurt your own argument when you purposely or unintentionally use incorrect language.
“Human” and “human being” are synonymous in our language.
For example, if you look at the definition of “human” from Merriam-Webster, you will get:
Main Entry: 2human
Function: noun
Date: circa 1533
: a bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens: man ; broadly : hominid
— hu•man•like \-mən-ˌlīk\ adjective
And then you look up “human being”, you will get:
Main Entry: human being
Function: noun
Date: 1751
: HUMAN
So, in the English language, “human” and “human beings” are synonymous. They refer to any member of homo sapiens.
And my contention has always been that fetuses are homo sapiens, or, in plain English—human beings.

Logically Speaking of course is trying to say that biology does not address the issue of personhood. He is relying on the ambiguity of the English language to make his point.
It is true that biology does not address philosophical issues.
But in stating “the fetus is a human being” I am not trying to address that philosophical issue.

Abortion supporters would be far more honest if they stated the simple truth: abortion kills a human being.
That is, abortion kills a member of homo sapiens.
Some of them are honest and will state that fact.
And many will not.
They are not proud of that fact. They want to hide that fact because they want to sustain abortion’s cultural and political acceptability.

A fetus is an organism. That is easily provable. It is a self-circumscribed entity with replicating DNA that takes in nutrients, grows, and has locomotion.
So the question becomes: what kind of organism is it?

Ergo, a fetus is a human being.
This is not “opinion”. This is scientific fact based on well-established laws. The best sign that something is a scientific fact is that it is always predictable. As I said, every human being was once a fetus. This shows that fetushood (to coin a word) is a stage in the life of every human being. It’s not some alien or non-human entity. It is a human being.

The other thing they do is substitute arbitrary standards for scientific ones. For instance, it is commonly stated that fetuses cannot be human beings because they do not have the features or abilities of an adult human being.

But an entity cannot be of two species. A caterpillar and a butterfly are two very different creatures, but they are of the same species. They represent different life stages of a butterfly. The same with tadpoles and frogs. If a living entity goes through different life stages looking completely different, then those differences are simply part of the characteristics of that species. So fetushood is just part of every human’s existence.
In response to this assertion, Gorgon writes:
You are wrong. It is not a fact, scientific or otherwise. It is an opinion. It happens to be YOUR opinion. It is NOT MINE
Another problem with debating supporters of abortion—many of whom have a left-wing, post-modern view of the world—is that their minds are so imbued with relativity that there is no such thing as a standard with them. You can’t measure, criticize, evaluate or test anything that they say or is being said because “it’s only your opinion” i.e. “it’s all relative”.
However, pro-aborts do not want to put submit their beliefs about the fetus for evaluation. For one thing, it would be politically unwise. For instance, one might believe, as I do, that a fetus is a human being. Another might not. Another might say that a fetus is a human being under some circumstances, and not others.


And when that consensus becomes more evident, pro-lifers would be able to evaluate, criticize and argue about it. Instead of having people just say “it’s all relative”, people who support abortion would be forced to defend their views on the fetus.
Based on standards, that is, of science.

So it is important to hash out the science. If a serious discussion or debate on abortion is to take place, the science must be made clear.
A fetus is a human being. That’s a scientific fact.