a zygote's a zygote, no matter how small?
There's been a bit of a brouhaha lately on my campus surrounding a controversial ad campaign by Penn for Life, the pro-life organization of the University of Pennsylvania. The advertisement, which depicts a bifurcated cell named "Elena," ends with the tagline, "A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small." The original copy for the ad includes a child's handwriting and pictures of stars, cars, and other "childish doodles":
Now, I'm perfectly fine with and respect peoples' ethical arguments against abortion (even though I'm pro-choice), but this emotional manipulation -- this equating a two day old fetus with a grown child -- just rings inappropriate.
With this dubious logic, social conservatives can argue that we should ban emergency contraception -- after all, isn't an unimplanted zygote an "abortion"? I realize this is a slippery slope, but the argument could go further. Why not ban contraception, for instance, which prevents ovulation but can also prevent implantation? Is a zygote a "person, no matter how small"?
After the scan was made available on Livejournal, my friend/Photoshop expert Mike VanHelder created this brilliant parody of the ad:
You can say we Philadelphians lack class, but you can't say we're sans snark.
Elle, Oct 17, 17:40:
Exact same poster at Harvard last fall.
David Kowarsky, Oct 17, 18:53:
Was going to mention that. Furthermore, regardless of his personal philosophy, to which I cannot speak, this does NOT match with the spirit of the Seuss work quoted.
Anne Elizabeth, Oct 17, 19:03:
Good counter-argument…
I for one believe in birth control as a preventative measure.
Happy Tuesday Jessica !
Sincerely,
Anne Elizabeth
David, Oct 18, 11:29:
When you say “Why not ban contraception,” you pretty much hit the nail on the head: they do want to ban contraception entirely, because sex is only for marriage and only for the purpose of making zygotes, which are as much people as you and me.
Make a few changes, and you could release your reworked version as a counter-advertisement.
alexhays, Oct 24, 20:16:
a ‘zygote’ being a living thing in the first few days of conception is a fairly recent concept. the catholic church used to consider the zygote non-living until 40 days in. 49 days is when DMT is first created, some people beleive DMT is what makes an organism an actual living thing (for good reason).