On Jul 27, 2005, at 4:22 PM, steve v wrote:
Question: Is it POV to say that a fetus is a
"human
life," and by terminology, thus entitled to universal
"human rights" and societal "personhood" status?
At
[[Human]], we wrote (though I see it's been changed): "Human life
begins at conception ... As the zygote grows through successive
stages inside the female's uterus over a period of 38 weeks, it is
called an embryo, then a fetus. At birth, the fully grown fetus, now
called a baby, is expelled from the female's body, and breathes
independently for the first time. At this point, most modern cultures
recognize the baby as a person entitled to the full protection of the
law, though some jurisdictions extend personhood to human fetuses
while they remain in the uterus."
I would say it's NPOV to say that a fetus is human life (what other
kind of life could it be if it's a human fetus?), but it's POV to
attribute personhood to the fetus, which is a legal issue only
indirectly tied to the biological one.
Sarah