Quote Originally Posted by JaneV2.0 View Post
Beating hearts don't mean much to me; you can culture petri dishes full of pulsing heart muscle cells. It's all about brain activity and viability, IMO.
Of course the pulsing petri dishes aren't working to keep any other living tissue alive so are (purely IMO) not a valid comparison. Much more importantly this illustrates the reason I don't feel qualified attempting to set boundaries for others. I picked the heartbeat rather than brain function because, following birth and so likely pre-birth as well, it is entirely possible to be devoid of brain function but still alive with a functioning heart beat. It is not possible to do it the other way around. Additionally, it is just way to large a gray area to define brain activity. Is it the formation of brain cells that link together? The beginning of simple function (something is telling that heart to beat)? Conscious thought? And once you pick one how do you determine when that stage begins?