Logan Couture

I oppose creating legal rights for embryos because doing so would grant full legal personhood to entities that cannot think, feel, survive independently, or exercise any form of agency—while simultaneously undermining the rights and bodily autonomy of living people. Our legal system already recognizes a crucial ethical boundary: no person, living or dead, can have their body used without consent. Even after death, organs cannot be harvested unless the individual explicitly consented while alive or their family agrees. We do not compel organ donation, even when doing so would unquestionably save lives. This reflects a foundational principle of law and ethics: no one is entitled to use another person’s body without permission. Granting embryos legal rights would contradict this principle. It would effectively give an embryo greater rights than any born person—allowing it to claim the use of another person’s body for survival, regardless of consent. That is a level of entitlement we do not grant to children, adults, or even dying patients in need of organs. Legal rights exist to protect persons who can participate in society and whose interests can be meaningfully represented. Embryos, while biologically human, do not meet that standard. Elevating them to legal personhood would not only distort the concept of rights but also create dangerous precedents that erode bodily autonomy, medical decision-making, and established legal norms. Respect for life must include respect for the autonomy, dignity, and consent of living people. Creating legal rights for embryos fails that test.