Sorry, I’m drunk (Saturday night and all) and thought you were arguing that human embryos couldn’t be parasitic because they were the product of sexual reproduction, not asexual reproduction.

This conversation got off track. However, I certainly don’t believe that a male impregnating a female is the exact same as the introduction of a parasite. But, fetuses behave similarly to parasites, which is what I was trying to say.

I do believe that consciousness is the overall measure of “life.” When a fetus develops consciousness, and the ability to survive outside the womb, it is alive. However, while dependent on the host mother, it is much more similar to a parasite.