Continuing Debate on the Beginning of Human Life

The North Dakota House has passed a bill that states: any organism with the genome of homo sapiens should be considered a person deserving of Constitutional protection. That is, a fertilized egg must be considered as much a human being as a one year old or eighty year old person with all of the same rights and privileges and protections.

This is obviously an attempt to provide a legislative definition that would make abortion illegal, and it is not a new idea. "Human Life Amendments" have been proposed periodically in the US Congress since 1973. These HLA's would officially define the beginning of human life as the moment of conception, which has always seemed to me to be a religious definition and not necessarily a scientific one.

While this may seem to be the quick and easy way to negate the Roe v. Wade ruling of the US Supreme Court, this legal definition raises a host of other sticky questions. I would refer you to the website: http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2008/01/03/even-more-questions-for-pro-lifers/ for a discussion of some of them.

In my own speculations, I have always wondered, if such a definition is adopted, what would that mean for a woman who does not follow adequate prenatal care? Could she be charged and jailed if she smokes during pregnancy or has a beer or doesn't eat properly or doesn't get enough rest? What happens if she does some of these non-healthful things before she knows she is pregnant? Could she be charged retroactively? What would be the implications for our health care system if such a law is passed? What happens for women who do not have health insurance? Would the government be required to provide health care for them in order to provide adequate care for the unborn person? Finally, I wonder if any of these legislators who want to provide a legal definition for the beginning of life have supported bills that would provide adequate comprehensive sex education and birth control options for all, especially for our teenagers, so that unwanted pregnancies could be better avoided?

What do you think? Would you vote to support such a bill?