Ireland legalizes the killing of the unborn

[Zymologist]

You complaining about nit-picking?

A sperm (or egg) is haploid. They only have 1/2 of a person's DNA. They cannot reproduce on their own. Sperm and Egg have to join together at conception to become a complete organism. A new human being.

"But fingernails, lol"

[Cow Poke]

No. It is the lengths you will go to to dehumanize a human being. I am sure Hitler argued that Jews weren't persons either so it was OK to "abort" them in gas chambers and concentration camps. That is the go-to tactic of all murders, claim that the victims were not people.

Or even allow that they're 3/5ths of a person!

[One Bad Pig]

Then it should be easy to refute.

It was. Pity you don't recognize that, and resorted to argument by fallacy in response.

[Roy]

You complaining about nit-picking?

A sperm (or egg) is haploid. They only have 1/2 of a person's DNA. They cannot reproduce on their own. Sperm and Egg have to join together at conception to become a complete organism. A new human being.

Yes, Sparko, perfectly correct. Of course, adult humans cannot reproduce on their own either, so if that's your reason for sperm not qualifying as 'life', you've just shot yourself in the foot.

[CMD]

Source: Developmental Biology, 9th Edition

Throughout the animal kingdom, an incredible variety of embryonic types exist, but most patterns of embryogenesis are variations on six fundamental processes: fertilization, cleavage, gastrulation, organogenesis, metamorphosis, and gametogenesis.

1. Fertilization involves the fusion of the mature sex cells, the sperm and egg, which are collectively called the gametes. The fusion of the gamete cells stimulates the egg to begin development and initiates a new individual. The subsequent fusion of the gamete nuclei (both of which have only half the normal number of chromosomes characteristic for the species) gives the embryo its genome, the collection of genes that helps instruct the embryo to develop in a manner very similar to that of it parents.

Gilbert S. 2010. Developmental Biology. 9th Ed. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates, Inc. Chapter 1, Developmental Anatomy; p. 6.

© Copyright Original Source

Source: Textbook of Clinical Embryology - Singh, Vishram 2012

Results of Fertilization

When the oocyte is fertilized by the sperm a life of a new individual begins.

Singh V. 2014. Textbook of Clinical Embryology. 1st Ed. New Delhi (India): Elsevier Health Sciences. Chapter 4, Fertilization and Formation of Germ Layers; p. 35.

© Copyright Original Source

Source: Langman's Medical Embryology. 13th Ed.

of the new individual. An X-carrying sperm produces a female (XX) embryo, and a Y-carrying sperm produces a male (XY) embryo. Therefore, the chromosomal sex of the embryo is determined at fertilization.

Sadler T. 2014. Langman's Medical Embryology. 13th Ed. Philadelphia (PA): Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Chapter 3, First Week of Development: Ovulation to Implantation; p. 42.

© Copyright Original Source

Etc. etc.

[Roy]

You think this describes a sperm cell? Really?

Sperm cells do not have the ability to metabolize.

Riiiight. Because metabolism requires newly consumed food, and couldn't possibly utilise stored food supplies.

[Roy]

It was. Pity you don't recognize that, and resorted to argument by fallacy in response.

What fallacy?

Is it worse than your repeated begging of the question?

[Cow Poke]

Yes, Sparko, perfectly correct. Of course, adult humans cannot reproduce on their own either, so if that's your reason for sperm not qualifying as 'life', you've just shot yourself in the foot.

But a male and a female can!

[Roy]

But a male and a female can!

But only by producing a sperm and an egg... maybe it's a cyclic process?

[Mountain Man]

Riiiight. Because metabolism requires newly consumed food, and couldn't possibly utilise stored food supplies.

I honestly can't tell if you're desperately trying to save face by doubling down on the stupid, or if you're trolling us by saying the most ignorant thing you can think of.

[Bill the Cat]

Yes, Sparko, perfectly correct. Of course, adult humans cannot reproduce on their own either, so if that's your reason for sperm not qualifying as 'life', you've just shot yourself in the foot.

You are conflating "life" with "individual lives". bacteria are "life". sperm cells are "life". Neither are an individual human life as typically defined as an individual self-directing member of our species.

[Bill the Cat]

No, what is sad is the lengths you people will go to try and equate the abortion of an embryo or early-stage fetus to human beings being murdered in the womb. The vast majority of abortions occur during the first trimester, i.e. week 12, when the fertilised egg is a clump of cells with no brain. The brain does not develop until around week 24, i.e. the third trimester. Until this occurs there is no way one can regard the fetus as a viable human being that warrants the full protections and rights of the law.

Brain development is nothing more than a specialization of cell function. Only people like you with no obvious level of biological comprehension make excuses about cell specialization, as if that one specialized function is all that is necessary. The brain is one of several co-dependent systems in the human body that work together to keep the organism on the path of growth and development.

[Roy]

You are conflating "life" with "individual lives". bacteria are "life". sperm cells are "life". Neither are an individual human life as typically defined as an individual self-directing member of our species.

I'm not conflating anything. I'm using "life" because that's what MM used:

At the moment of conception, the resulting organism:

1) Meets even the most conservative scientific definition of life.

He is the one conflating "life" with "a life". If you think sperm cells are "life", then tell him, not me, because he is the one arguing that they don't meet the criteria.

You might also want to ponder why a sperm cell wouldn't qualify as either "individual" nor "self-directing" before you reply, or what it is about a fertilised ovum that would make it self-directing where a sperm cell isn't.

[Roy]

I honestly can't tell if you're desperately trying to save face by doubling down on the stupid, or if you're trolling us by saying the most ignorant thing you can think of.

Your inability to understand isn't my problem. Enjoy your bliss.

[Sparko]

Yes, Sparko, perfectly correct. Of course, adult humans cannot reproduce on their own either, so if that's your reason for sperm not qualifying as 'life', you've just shot yourself in the foot.

That was bad logic, even for you. A sperm can't reproduce more sperm at all. The only thing it can do is combine with an egg and create an entirely new organism.