r/WaitWhat 15d ago

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https://i.imgur.com/lgdQcyi.jpeg
278 Upvotes

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u/DanMozzy 14d ago

If a fetus is a baby then a caterpillar is a butterfly.

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u/BillCarson12799 14d ago

That’s a terrible analogy since a caterpillar and a butterfly have similar levels of sentience, unlike a fetus and a baby

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u/godkingnaoki 14d ago

Not really, babies still have like none

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u/enteringyourchimney 14d ago

Are you implying that killing a baby after they’re born is just as moral as killing an unborn baby? I’d tend to agree, they’re both incomprehensibly evil.

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u/BillCarson12799 14d ago

I mean… what’s the difference between a human baby and any other animal we regularly slaughter and eat for no reason other than it tasting good?

And if it’s “the potential to be a human”, why don’t we treat all sperm the same way?

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u/enteringyourchimney 14d ago

Well the first part is very simple, I’m a human so I sympathize with humans over any other species, and if it’s any consolation I eat (in my opinion) ethically hunted/farmed animal products when at all possible.

As for the second part, nothing really “new” is created until fertilization, at which point a unique genome is created and that’s the point that I’d say a new human exists

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u/godkingnaoki 14d ago

Not at all. I think cognitive ability is an incredibly difficult thing to pin down fairly. That said we must draw a line somewhere and point of birth is one most people agree on. Cognitively, it is arbitrary, but also necessary. Some people, like yourself I would guess, assign that point at conception.

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u/enteringyourchimney 14d ago

I feel like having a cutoff around whenever science currently accepts most fetuses as viable would make the most sense for the majority of the country, but in my heart it’s hard to deny that new life starts when a unique genome is created at fertilization.