When does a clump of cells becomea person with full moral status?

The question matters whether you believe in God or not….

Immanuel Kant “Every human being must be treated not merely as a means to an end but as an end in itself”

At what stage would you draw the line?

Examine this chart of development from gametes to neonate

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

20weeks

UK Law

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

Current UK legislation on the attainment of personhood is paradoxical in that it draws lines of moral status at 2 points:

14 days for embryo research

24 weeks for abortion

20weeks

UK Public Opinion

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

In a 2008 poll*, 43% of UK adults thought the first

heartbeat was the start of personhood

40 weeks

* Reproductive Biology Assoc Inc. International Poll 200820weeks

RomanCatholicism

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 26 weeks

birth / neonate

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

40 weeks

20weeks

The majority Roman Catholic view, expounded by Donum Vitae 1987 and reinforced by Dignitas Personae 2008 is that ensoulment or personhood begins at the moment of conception

A minority of Catholic theologians have argued, along the lines of St Thomas Aquinas, that ‘delayed’ ensoulment occurs when the spirit relates to formie. When the primitive streak appears

Protestant Christianity

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

There is a great diversity of view within Protestantism about the time of ensoulment.Generally speaking most believers would view the unique person being created by God within the first 2 weeks.The range of beliefs is normally either conception (often held by evangelicals or anglo-catholics), implantation – start of relationship with the mother or neurulation (spirit / form as per Thomas Aquinas).

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

20weeks

Islam

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate120 daysquickening

40 days

* Maliki school says earlier

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

40 weeks

20weeks

Islamic scholars down through the centuries have consistently upheld the teaching of delayed ensoulment. The process of ensoulment reaching fruition at a point between 40 and 120 days gestation*Abortion after 120 days is not allowed.

Some Jurists argue for the protection of the fertilized embryo and therefore are against embryo research

Hinduism

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate120 daysquickening

40 days24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

20weeks

The Vedas teach that all life is sacred. However, human life is the highest level of conciousness. The divine spark, or soul enters at 120 days (Artma). Hindus also perform a pre-birth ceremony at 7 months when personhood is fully achieved.

Thus, although the early embryo is to be respected, it is the 120 day time point which is a key event in the acquiring of human personhood.

40weeks

Judaism

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

24weeks

14days

36hrs

7days

22days

20weeks

Rabbinic thought varies considerably on the emergence of personhood.Rabbi Judah the Patriachheld that it occurred at conception. Talmudic teaching is that personhood is only obtained at birth and that the baby only has equivalent status with the mother when half in and half out of the womb.

Other teachings hold that after 40 days the foetus has special status which precludes abortion for all but the most serious reasons.

120 daysquickening

40 days

Buddhism

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

24w

14d

36h

7d

22d

Generally speaking, personhood is not an issue for Buddhists. Consciousness comes from conception - therefore this is a critical stage. Genetic makeup of the individual from the blastocyst stage onward can be affected by Karmic influences. This has led some Buddhists to define the blastocyst as the key stage in personhood.

Does developmental biology inform this debate? gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

Whilst embryo / foetal development is a continuum, there are 5 recognized stages at which scientists have suggested personhood could potentially be defined as beginning although these are hotly contested and debated.

1 Fertilization2 Syngamy – new genome3 Gastrulation (Individuation)4 EEG activity 5 Birth

Fertilization

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

Contrary to popular thought, there is no ‘moment’ of fertilization. It is a process that can take up to 36 hours. Processes include capacitation of the sperm, oocyte chemoattraction, penetration of the zona pellucida by the sperm and eventual zygote formation. This impacts on personhood simply in that there is no definable new being or entity for at least a day following sexual union. This has implications for those who might oppose emergency contraception in cases of rape.

Syngamy

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

Defining personhood in terms of the creation of a novel genome is also fraught with difficulty. Even though a new genetically distinct entity is formed at the emergence of the zygote, there is still the possibility that the zygote will form multiple entities or that multiple zygotes will fuse to form one. Also it is possible the zygote will form a tumour rather than a viable foetus. In terms of personhood this is problematic. Early blastomeres within a blastocyst are totipotent – so in theory could form multiple persons.

Gastrulation

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

By 14 days, the implanted embryo begins to exhibit differentiated cellular structures. This is probably the first point at which biological individuality occurs. Monozygotic twinning can occur up to day 12. Thus several philosophers (including Mary Warnock, Ron Green) talk about the origins of personhood and theologians such as Ford and Olsen, Shannon and Walter talk about ‘delayed ensoulment’ as occuring around this time.

EEG activity

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beat

EEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

Burst of EEG activity can be detected in the developing foetus at around 20 weeks gestation. There is a persuasive argument that if cessation of electro-encephalogram activity marks the end of life, surely the instigation of EEG marks its start. This would imply that being a person is bound up with a functioning cortex.The potential for the brain to experience pain at this point has informed the abortion debate but the ability to ‘sense’ the external environment is a key facet to personhood.

Birth

gametes

fertilization

zygote

morula

blastocyst

implantation

gastrula

neurulation

Heart beatEEG activity

foetus > 24 weeks

birth / neonate

If there is a critical tipping point in foetal development, it is during the process of delivery of the neonate. Abrupt changes in cardiovascular and pulmonary function occur to sustain life extra-utero. There is no doubt that we talk of a new-born infant as a ‘person’ and most societies have enshrined legal registration and protection of babies as persons in society. But does that mean that a foetus in the womb 5 minutes before birth is any less of a person?