Devolution

The European Court of Human Rights might hear a case in which they will be asked to legally declare a chimpanzee to be a person.

A British animal rights activist wants to become the legal guardian of Matthew, a 26 year-old chimp, so that she can take care of him if the bankrupt animal sanctuary in Vienna, Austria, that is his home, is closed.

However, under Austrian law, only a human being can have a guardian. Austria's supreme court has upheld that law in this case.

But that's not stopping the Association Against Animal Factories, who filed the appeal in the European court on behalf of the chimp.

Why is this worth noting? I'll tell you.

In a recent post, I wrote about my objections to embryonic stem cell research, on the grounds that such research destroys human life. These are the same grounds on which I base my objections to abortion - I believe that upon the meeting of a sperm and egg, a human life is conceived, and cannot be aborted. However, not everyone agrees.

One roadblock to outlawing abortion is that many pro-choice activists argue that a fetus is not a human. In my opinion, a fetus conceived by two people cannot be anything else - it won't be anything else, regardless of how similar a human embryo might look to an embryo of another species. It is genetically programmed to develop into a human. But many refuse to label a fetus a human, so that it is easier to permit abortion.

My point is this: what sort of society have we become when we refuse to call our most vulnerable members human beings, whereas it is conceivable to fight for a chimpanzee to be given this distinction?

I want to cry.

I'll be keeping an eye on this case to see what develops. Hopefully, the European Court of Human Rights will maintain the same position as the Austrian supreme court. Only time will tell.