For those who believe that life begins at conception, a thought experiment of one of those Lifeboat Dilemmas so beloved by moral philosophers:
Example:
Two children, one black, one white, fall through holes in the ice and you can only save one. A white racist says save the white child; a black racist save the black one; a non-racist says it doesn’t matter which you save (that’s the only info you have about them).
Repeat for male/female, Russian/American etc… also for Animal Liberationists who accuse you of speciesism, how about a child and a puppy? a chick? a maggot?
Anyway, you’re in an ob/gyn ward that catches fire. You hear two women outside calling “Save my baby!”.
One has just given birth to an infant in the maternity ward, the other has a fertilized egg in a test-tube that she wants to implant. (assume that the implantation will be successful; or you could give the already-delivered baby enough of a life-threatening condition that their odds of survival will be equal )
If you truly believe that life begins at conception, you’d have to be indifferent between the baby and the test-tube. yes?