A fertilized egg in a Petri dish is NOT life. It lacks many things in order to become a life, not the least of which is a womb, be it human or artificial. Because the fertilized egg does not have all of the things that it needs in order to mature, it cannot be considered human, nor does it have rights. Such a collection of cells is just that.
There is a special sanctity to the womb, especially the human female womb. This is a special place created by God whose sole purpose is to incubate and allow life to begin. A fertilized egg inside of a womb is MUCH different than one outside. The one inside has all the pieces necessary to become life. It has rights. It is a real person. To remove such cells from their life-giving place is akin to removing a living adult to a place without oxygen. It is no different than leaving a child to starve in place where no food is available. This is what makes induced abortion so abominable. The embryo, which is in a place where it has everything it needs to mature, is forcibly removed from it safe harbor and deliberately terminated.
Too much emphasis is placed on the fertilized egg. An egg’s fertilized status is not at issue; it is its environment that matters: Does it or does it not have everything that it needs to become a living, breathing individual? Once all the pieces are in place, separating any one of them from the others is murder.
Stem cell research on fertilized eggs should be allowed as long as the eggs being used for medical research and development have never been in a place where they had all the things necessary to become a person. An apple seed on your kitchen counter is no more an apple tree than a fertilized egg in a Petri dish is a person. Once the seed is planted, then all the necessary elements for it to mature are in place and it should be nurtured and cared for with all the respect that any living thing deserves.
