Council 112 Respect Life Report February 2007

Tony Marino is an Air Force veteran who later received a degree in English Literature at Long Island University. For more than 30 years, he was an insurance agent for Aetna before eventually becoming a private insurance consultant. Since his retirement in 2003, he has devoted himself to the service of St. Peter's Parish in Concord and the Right to Life movement in New Hampshire. Tony has been married to his wife, Annette for more than 40 years. They have ten children and 22 grandchildren.

The title of this essay seems to state an obvious fact, but there is a debate taking place in the United States and perhaps the world which on states by one side that an embryo is not a person. I recently read an article titled Embryonic Debate by Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefson which is a reply to a New York Times Book Review of their Embryo: A Defense of Human Life. Professor George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. Professor Tollefson is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina.

The article states as a matter of scientific fact that the human embryo is a human being at the earliest stage of development. The opposing argument is that embryos are not determinate individuals - and even doubt whether embryos are organisms at all. This argument is without scientific basis. Modern embryology and human developmental biology have established that human embryos are not mere parts of some other organism. Rather, they are determinate individuals. They are organisms that endure throughout the developmental process, both during the gestation period and after birth. All adult human beings are the same beings they were at an earlier stage of life. In looking backward, we know that the adult was an adolescent, a child, an infant, a fetus and an embryo. The human organism formed by the joining of the ovum and sperm cell is a new whole living organism - which never is or was part of the maternal organism. Nothing acts on the embryo in such a way as to produce a new character or new direction of growth. The developing organism does not transform from one entity to another. “The entity is a human, and once the entity comes into existence it remains, until death, a complete, self integrating determinate human organism – a human being.”

If a human embryo is something other than a human being, what could it be? Those who deny the humanity of the embryo argue that the mother and embryo, taken together, form a single biological unit. This argument is bargain basement science. Human embryologists focusing on the life of a developing human being have, from their work, understood when human life begins. It begins at conception, the joining of the sperm cell and ovum.

There are other arguments against the humanity of the embryo. Those who deny it point to twinning. According to statistics, one out of every three hundred human embryos splits into two or more people. The argument is that if the embryo splits into two beings, the original embryo was not a determinate individual. What this overlooks is the fact that, at fertilization, a new and complete organism came into existence. Whether twinning occurs as a splitting or budding does nothing to demonstrate that the original embryo was not a determinate, individual human organism.

Another argument is that because the embryo becomes two distinct parts - the embryo and the placenta - and the placenta is eventually discarded, this means that the embryo was not an individual. The fallacy of this is that organisms do have parts, and these parts may be subordinated to the needs of the organism. The placenta is bound by “narrow temporal conditions” and, like baby teeth, will be discarded in time.

Lastly, another argument calls into question the distinction between embryos and gametes, i.e. ovum and sperm cells. The argument points to 70 vertebrate species where unfertilized eggs develop into “offspring." The fallacy is apparent: the 70 species do not include human beings. It still remains true, even for these species, that no organism was ever a sperm or ovum.

	COUNCIL #112 • 52 Bradley Street • Concord NH 03301 • (603) 228-8927 •

RETURN TO RESPECT LIFE PAGE AWARDS AND HONORS BIRTHDAYS CHURCH PROGRAMS COMMUNITY PROGRAMS COUNCIL NEWS FAMILY PROGRAMS FIRST DEGREE TEAM GOOD OF THE ORDER INSURANCE KNIGHT OF THE MONTH LINKS OUR GRAND KNIGHT PHOTOS VIDEO OF THE MONTH YOUTH PROGRAMS CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO VISIT OUR FATHER McGIVNEY SITE	Tony Marino is an Air Force veteran who later received a degree in English Literature at Long Island University. For more than 30 years, he was an insurance agent for Aetna before eventually becoming a private insurance consultant. Since his retirement in 2003, he has devoted himself to the service of St. Peter's Parish in Concord and the Right to Life movement in New Hampshire. Tony has been married to his wife, Annette for more than 40 years. They have ten children and 22 grandchildren. Council 112 Respect Life Report February 2008 A PERSON IS A PERSON The title of this essay seems to state an obvious fact, but there is a debate taking place in the United States and perhaps the world which on states by one side that an embryo is not a person. I recently read an article titled Embryonic Debate by Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefson which is a reply to a New York Times Book Review of their Embryo: A Defense of Human Life. Professor George is the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University and a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. Professor Tollefson is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina. The article states as a matter of scientific fact that the human embryo is a human being at the earliest stage of development. The opposing argument is that embryos are not determinate individuals - and even doubt whether embryos are organisms at all. This argument is without scientific basis. Modern embryology and human developmental biology have established that human embryos are not mere parts of some other organism. Rather, they are determinate individuals. They are organisms that endure throughout the developmental process, both during the gestation period and after birth. All adult human beings are the same beings they were at an earlier stage of life. In looking backward, we know that the adult was an adolescent, a child, an infant, a fetus and an embryo. The human organism formed by the joining of the ovum and sperm cell is a new whole living organism - which never is or was part of the maternal organism. Nothing acts on the embryo in such a way as to produce a new character or new direction of growth. The developing organism does not transform from one entity to another. “The entity is a human, and once the entity comes into existence it remains, until death, a complete, self integrating determinate human organism – a human being.” If a human embryo is something other than a human being, what could it be? Those who deny the humanity of the embryo argue that the mother and embryo, taken together, form a single biological unit. This argument is bargain basement science. Human embryologists focusing on the life of a developing human being have, from their work, understood when human life begins. It begins at conception, the joining of the sperm cell and ovum. There are other arguments against the humanity of the embryo. Those who deny it point to twinning. According to statistics, one out of every three hundred human embryos splits into two or more people. The argument is that if the embryo splits into two beings, the original embryo was not a determinate individual. What this overlooks is the fact that, at fertilization, a new and complete organism came into existence. Whether twinning occurs as a splitting or budding does nothing to demonstrate that the original embryo was not a determinate, individual human organism. Another argument is that because the embryo becomes two distinct parts - the embryo and the placenta - and the placenta is eventually discarded, this means that the embryo was not an individual. The fallacy of this is that organisms do have parts, and these parts may be subordinated to the needs of the organism. The placenta is bound by “narrow temporal conditions” and, like baby teeth, will be discarded in time. Lastly, another argument calls into question the distinction between embryos and gametes, i.e. ovum and sperm cells. The argument points to 70 vertebrate species where unfertilized eggs develop into “offspring." The fallacy is apparent: the 70 species do not include human beings. It still remains true, even for these species, that no organism was ever a sperm or ovum. In our Catholic belief, supported by science, life begins at conception and a person is always a person. Pray to end abortion, and the science that destroys life. Next Article --->
	© Copyright 1999 - 2002 by Knights of Columbus. All Rights Reserved. Send comments or questions to the web page editor, webmaster@kofc112.org.