Will Sperm and Eggs Soon Be Declared People Too?

The Next Natural Step in the Progression

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/File:The_sperm_and_ovum_during_fertilization.svg

The Alabama Supreme Court says that embryos are people, too, joining the ranks of humans and corporations. In words that Tommy Tuberville, Sen R-AL, might understand, an embryo is formed when a male sperm interacts with a female egg or ovum and is in the early stages of development, usually between 2–8 weeks after fertilization. After that, it is considered a fetus.

The original court case was tied to three couples who attempted to have children using the process called In vitro fertilization (IVF). That process has become a popular method for couples to have children who otherwise were having problems doing so. Sperm from a male is combined with eggs from a woman outside the womb, and after an embryo is formed, it is implanted in the lining of the woman’s uterus for the prospective child to continue growth. The process typically results in multiple embryos developing, with one or more selected for insertion into the uterus. The remaining embryos were usually disposed of, donated for research, or frozen for later attempts. The three couples involved elected to have their remaining embryos frozen and stored. Those embryos were later accidentally destroyed when a patient, unauthorized to handle the embryos, accidentally dropped them. The parents sued the facility for “accidental death.”

The first court to hear the case dismissed it, finding that embryos didn’t meet the definition of a “person” or “child.” The Alabama Supreme Court disagreed, saying “extrauterine children” — or unborn children “located outside of a biological uterus at the time they are killed” — are children, and they are covered under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor law.

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker didn’t leave his religious leanings at the door and, in this case, as he has in others, quoted the Bible in his reasoning, saying, “God created every person in His image.” He also said, “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God.” Parker wrote that state code recognizes “unborn human life” and that destroying it — including frozen embryos — is an affront to God.

“All human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory,”

Now that God has been invoked in Alabama Court proceedings, we should look harder at other things God has indicated that might make their way into law. Genesis 38: 9–10 clarifies that “spilling seed” is wicked in the Lord’s sight and punishable by death.

9. But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so he put him to death also.

For Senator Tuberville, should he be reading along. “Spilling seed” is masturbation, also the process by which sperm is generated for IVF. A single ejaculation produces between 40 million to 500 million sperm, which, if wasted, makes that twelve-year-old locked in the bathroom potentially a mass murderer.

It’s more complicated for women who are thought to be born with between 1–2 million eggs. Once they reach the age of menstruation, thousands are prepared for release by each ovary every cycle, with typically one at random released for potential fertilization. Discarded eggs are reabsorbed by the woman’s body or passed during that period. The released egg has 12–24 hours to be fertilized, or the opportunity is missed. If a woman isn’t in the mood during the optimum timeframe for fertilization, can a husband sue for the murder of an unborn child? If an embryo at as little as two weeks, it is considered a person. Why not the component parts of sperm and ova (eggs)? Didn’t God already declare wasting potential life worthy of death?

The one some consider God’s Supreme Emissary on Earth (Donald Trump) has declared the reasoning of the Alabama Supreme Court to be wrong and suggested the Alabama Legislature take it all back because polls suggest it will cost Republicans elections. Many Republican politicians initially took stands against IVF before changing their minds once they understood it as a means for people to have children, with as many as 500,000 born annually using the process. Many changed their minds, and Senator Tubervile has had three positions to date.

If the position on embryos is allowed to stand, the next natural step is to declare the waste of sperm and ova a crime as well. The penalty prescribed by God is death. The Alabama Legislature should act, but so should Alabama voters, who should stop electing politicians and judges who would impose their interpretation of God’s will on the rest of us. Amen!