Some years ago I was studying freshwater bryozoans in Thailand. Bryozoans are small invertebrate animals that grow as colonies on submerged surfaces in almost any lake, pond, or river. The most common species looks like a flat scab, although under a microscope it takes on the appearance of a miniature garden of tiny flowers. While examining these creatures one evening, I happened to notice the release of bluish spheres that looked like eggs. Sure enough, within 30 minutes each sphere had divided into two cells, separate but still attached. A few minutes later they had divided again, then again. I realized that these were the same size and shape as human eggs. At one time I must have looked like one of these myself, and the process of cell division would have been exactly the same. I was observing the beginnings of new life, and it was a beautiful and wondrous event. I stayed up all night to watch.
You may see where this is leading. The start of new life is an amazing event of incredible complexity, whether in a bryozoan or a human being. Bryozoans finish the process overnight, but with humans it takes many years.
At what point does human life become more special or sacred than any other form of life? At conception we resemble most other species. When a “heartbeat” is detected it is not even a heart, but just some rhythmically contracting tissue. The real heart comes later. Birth just gets the baby out of the womb so it is no longer parasitizing its mother. There are still months of development ahead before we find consciousness and memory, then years to achieve judgement, creativity, problem solving, and other human attributes.
For me, there is no easy answer to when human life becomes “special” and worthy of legal protection. Instead, there are many interesting possibilities beyond the narrow ones most often debated today.
Dr. Timothy S. Wood is a senior scientist at Byro Technologies in Beavercreek.
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