comments Irving
May 8, 2003
Reproduced with Permission
[Comment: One of the most powerful sources of massive confusion on the truth about the scientific facts of the early human embryo has been the courts and the law, especially since the 1993 Roe vs Wade decision. Once false science is incorporated into a law or regulation it ceases to be science anymore and becomes instead "stare decisis" -- or, legal precedent. The courts then have no legal duty to go back and correct the false science, hence it continues to be applied and perpetuated as "legal precedent" ad naseum. Scientifically there is no question whatsoever that the immediate product of fertilization (conception) is a new, genetically unique living human being -- flatly contradicting the ruling of this court that it is just a "body part" of the mother. Even aside from the obvious legal implications for abortion, human embryo research, cloning, etc., such irresponsible legal decisions pave the way for the commodification of the early human embryo as simply a "product" to be legally bought and sold on the free (or black) market as long as the woman -- or the IVF research lab -- gives "informed consent". (Indeed, such arguments have long been fostered by such bioethicists as Tristram Engelhardt, Lee Silver, etc.) FYI I have included after this article just a portion of the human embryology that so documents the accurate and true objective scientific facts in concert with the International Nomina Embryologica nomenclature, and have attached my article (in "rich text format") on "when a human being begins". If the supposedly sacrosanct Rule of Law is so unreliable and continues to foster such false science as has this Conn. court, then the courts will inevitably face the same lack of confidence and loss of credibility by the public as have recently the fields of scientific research and medicine in general because of this same dubious practice. -- DNI]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-2650348,00.html
Source: Guardian Unlimited
May 8, 2003
Conn. Supreme Court: Fetus Is Body Part
By Matt Apuzzo
.c The Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Angering both sides of the abortion debate, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a fetus is a body part, akin to teeth, skin and hair that are eventually shed.
The ruling unanimously upheld the conviction of a man who tried to induce a miscarriage by slipping his girlfriend labor-inducing drugs. Edwin Sandoval argued he could not be charged with attempting to commit aggravated assault because the fetus was the target, not the mother.
Though the court held that the 5-week-old fetus was part of the woman's body, Chief Justice William J. Sullivan issued a separate concurring opinion saying a fetus might have "its own independent existence."
"In other words, the fetus may both be a part of its mother as well as its own individual being," Sullivan wrote.
Anti-abortion groups applauded the court's protection of the fetus, but criticized the identification of a fetus as a body part.
"It could have had a different blood type, and certainly it had different DNA," said Bill O'Brien, vice president of the Connecticut Right to Life Corp.
Sullivan's opinion, which declared that a fetus may be entitled to legal protection, drew criticism from abortion rights groups.
"Any time I hear about giving rights to fetuses, I get concerned," said Elaine Werner, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. "That's the slippery slope to eroding Roe vs. Wade."
Sandoval was sentenced in 2001 to 12 years in prison for using ulcer medication in an attempt to induce a miscarriage. The woman later gave birth to a healthy son.
Gov. John G. Rowland is expected to sign a bill increasing the penalties for someone convicted of assaulting a pregnant woman and causing her to lose the fetus. The assault would be punishable by 10 to 25 years in prison.
Defense attorney Paula Waite said if the fetus is its own life form, the state's abortion laws are in question. If the fetus is a body part, laws increasing the penalty for assaulting a pregnant woman could be jeopardized.
Another defense attorney promised to appeal.
05/07/03 20:12 EDT
FERTILIZATION (SEXUAL REPRODUCTION (in vivo and/or in vitro) NORMALLY TAKES PLACE IN THE FALLOPIAN TUBE (NOT IN THE UTERUS); FERTILIZATION IS NORMALLY THE BEGINNING OF THE EXISTENCE OF: THE HUMAN BEING, THE HUMAN EMBRYO, THE HUMAN ORGANISM, THE GENETIC SEX OF THE EMBRYO, NORMAL PREGNANCY, AND THE EMBRYONIC PERIOD:
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RONAN O'RAHILLY AND FABIOLA MULLER, Human Embryology & Teratology (3rd ed.)(New York: Wiley-Liss, 2001): Although life is a continuous process, fertilization ... is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is formed when the chromosomes of the male and female pronuclei blend in the oocyte. This remains true even though the embryonic genome is not actually activated until 2-8 cells are present at about 2-3 days. ... During the embryonic period proper, milestones include fertilization, activation of embryonic from extra-embryonic cells, implantation, and the appearance of the primitive streak and bilateral symmetry. ... Fertilization is the procession of events that begins when a spermatozoon makes contact with a secondary oocyte or its investments, and ends with the intermingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes at metaphase of the first mitotic division of the zygote. ... Fertilization takes place normally in the ampulla (lateral end) of the uterine tube. (p. 31); ... [Events or phases of fertilization]: ... #12. Two pronuclei, which migrate to a central position in the ootid. #13. Coalescence of homologous chromosomes, resulting in a one-cell embryo. The two pronuclei do not fuse but their nuclear envelopes break down and form vesicles. The two groups of homologous chromosomes then move together and become arranged on the first cleavage spindle. [[[ i.e., the embryo begins before syngamy.]]] #14. The beginning of the first mitotic division of the zyygote: The zygote is characteristic of the last phase of fertilization and is identified by the first cleavage spindle. It is a unicellular embryo and is a highly specialized cell. The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity. Items 12-14 in the list above have traditionally been regarded as constituting developmental stage 1. (p. 33); ... Prenatal life is conveniently divided into two phases: the embryonic and the fetal. ... [I]t is now accepted that the word embryo, as currently used in human embryology, means 'an unborn human in the first 8 weeks' from fertilization. Embryonic life begins with the formation of a new embryonic genome (slightly prior to its activation). (p. 87)
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RONAN O'RAHILLY AND FABIOLA MULLER, Human Embryology &Teratology (New York: Wiley-Liss, 1994): Fertilization is an important landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed. (p. 5); ... Fertilization is the procession of events that begins when a spermatozoon makes contact with a secondary oocyte or its investments ... (p. 19); ... The zygote ... is a unicellular embryo. (p. 19); ... Thus the diploid number [in the zygote] is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity. (p. 20); ... ... The embryo enters the uterine cavity after half a week, when probably at least 8-12 cells are present. (p. 23); ... The embryonic period proper ... occupies the first 8 postovulatory weeks (i.e., timed from the last ovulation) ... The fetal period extends from 8 weeks to birth. (p. 55); ...
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KEITH MOORE AND T.V.N. PERSAUD, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology (6th ed. only) (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1998): Sutton and Boveri declared independently in 1902 that the behavior of chromosomes during germ cell formation and fertilization agreed with Mendel's principles of inheritance. In the same year, Garrod reported alcaptonuria as the first example of mendelian inheritance in human beings. Many consider Garrod to be the Father of Medical Genetics. It was soon realized that the zygote contains all the genetic information necessary for directing the development of a new human being. (p. 12) ... Human development is a continuous process that begins when an oocyte (ovum) from a female is fertilized by a sperm (or spermatozoon) from a male. (p. 2); ... but the embryo begins to develop as soon as the oocyte is fertilized. (p. 2); ... Zygote: this cell results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo). (p. 2); ... Human development begins at fertilization, the process during which a male gamete or sperm ... unites with a female gamete or oocyte ... to form a single cell called a zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual. (p. 18) ... The usual site of fertilization is the ampulla of the uterine tube [fallopian tube], its longest and widest part. If the oocyte is not fertilized here, it slowly passes along the tube to the uterus, where it degenerates and is resorbed. Although fertiization may occur in other parts of the tube, it does not occur in the uterus. ... Human development begins when a oocyte is fertilized. Fertilization ... begins with contact between a sperm and a oocute and ends with the intermingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes ... of the zygote, a unicellular embryo. (p. 34) ... The zygote is genetically unique because half of its chromosomes come from the mother and half from the father. The zygote contains a new combination of chromosomes that is different from that in the cells of either of the parents. This mechanism forms the basis of biparental inheritance and variation of the human species. Meiosis allows independent assortment of maternal and paternal chromosomes among the germ cells. ... The embryo's chromosomes sex is determined at fertilization by the kind of sperm (S or Y) that fertilizes the ovum; hence it is the father rather than the mother whose gamete determines the sex of the embryo. (p. 37)
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BRUCE M. CARLSON, Human Embryology and Developmental Biology (St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 1994): Human pregnancy begins with the fusion of an egg and a sperm. (p. 3); ... finally, the fertilized egg, now properly called an embryo, must make its way into the uterus (p. 3); ... The sex of the future embryo is determined by the chromosomal complement of the spermatozoon ... Through the mingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes, the zygote is a genetically unique product of chromosomal reassortment .. (p. 31); ... "After the eighth week of pregnancy the period of organogenesis (embryonic period) is largely completed and the fetal period begins. (p. 407)
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BRUCE M. CARLSON, Human Embryology &Developmental Biology (St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 1999): "Human pregnancy begins with the fusion of an egg and a sperm, but a great deal of preparation [recedes this event. First both male and female sex cells must pass through a long series of changes (gametogenesis) that convert them genetically and phenotypically into mature gametes, which are capable of participating in the process of fertilization. Next, the gametes must be released from the gonads and make their way to the upper part of the uterine tube, where fertilization normally takes place. ... Finally, the fertilized egg, now properly called an embryo, must make its way into the uterus ....". (p. 2); ... Fertilization age: dates the age of the embryo from the time of fertilization. (p. 23) ... In the female, sperm transport begins in the upper vagina and ends in the ampulla of the uterine tube [fallopian tube] where the spermatozoa make contact with the ovulated egg. (p. 27) ... After the eighth week of pregnancy the period of organogenesis (embryonic period) is largely completed, and the fetal period begins." (p. 447). ... The sex of the future embryo is determined by the chromosomal complement of the spermatozoon. (If the sperm contains 22 autosomes and an X chromosome, the embryo will be a genetic female, and if it contains 22 autosomes and a Y chromosome, the embryo will be a male.) ... Through the mingling of maternal and paternal chromosomes, the zygote is a genetically unique product of chromosomal reassortment, which is important for the viability of any species. (p. 32)
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WILLIAM J. LARSEN, Human Embryology (New York: Churchill Livingstone, 1997): In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual. ... Fertilization takes place in the oviduct [not the uterus]... resulting in the formation of a zygote containing a single diploid nucleus. Embryonic development is considered to begin at this point. (p. 1); ... "These pronuclei fuse with each other to produce the single, diploid, 2N nucleus of the fertilized zygote. This moment of zygote formation may be taken as the beginning or zero time point of embryonic development. (p. 17).
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Geoffrey Sher, Virginia Marriage Davis, Jean Stoess, In Vitro Fertilization: The A.R.T. of Making Babies (New York: Facts On File, 1998): The moment a sperm penetrates the egg's zona pellucida, a reaction in the egg fuses the zona and the perivitelline membrane into an impermeable shield that prevents other sperm from entering. ... Propelled by contractions of the fallopian tube, the dividing embryo begins its three- or four-day journey back to the uterus and continues to divide after it reaches the uterus. (The fertilization process occurs near the middle of the fallopian tube -- not in the uterus.) (p. 18)
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