The Point Between Dreams and Reality

There is one issue that has always been able to fire up a debate, whether its in a courtroom or at a dinner table. The word itself is provoking- abortion. Is it right? Is it wrong? The only way to tell is by looking to the very beginning of every person. The starting point is the dichotomy of potentiality verses reality.

An egg or a sperm has the potential to become a member of the human species. What I mean by this is that they both contain what is necessary to initiate life if a certain set of events happen. Are they a human being yet? No.

A fetus is a part of the human species and its potential can be found in growth rather than creation.No matter what happens after the point of fertilization, that zygote, fetus, baby, child, or adult is a human. The question now is the most important of all questions. Is it a person?

The answer to this appears to depend upon an individuals definition of a person. Some believe that it takes the ability to survive without excessive medical assistance. Some believe that it takes brain waves. Others believe that it only takes a complete set of human DNA and the proper amount of chromosomes. Is there distinction between a human and a human being?

Every issue of abortion seems only to lead to further questioning. To boil down the issue, there are two sides that one may choice on the question of person-hood. Either development qualifies person-hood or the simple existence of an organism as our species does. The only time that a new creature is created is during fertilization when an egg and a sperm join together to form a human. After that fact is a long road of growing and changing.

If being a human doesn’t qualify one as a human being then there are only so many other factors capable of this. Basically, if it is a certain point of development or ability that makes a person then the entire condition is based completely upon either a certain physical, intelligent, or mental factor.

The slippery slope that the Nazi’s tumbled down was based quite a bit on physical development. The ability to survive without excessive medical assistance then turns to life expectancy which leads to ailments and eventually slides down the years until it reaches the most superficial of factors which could be age, color, or fitness. The most substantial physical development is the creation of a human which is conception and from that point all that happens is the fulfillment of the instructions encoded in DNA. The condition of that fitness or the lack thereof is incredibly subjective.