It is recorded in the monastic rules that a monk once performed an abortion on a girl; the Buddha judged his action seriously wrong, which incurred him the highest offense in the monastic rule. A monk committing this kind of wrongful deed must be expelled from the monastic community. The Buddha considered the embryo to be a person like an adult, so the monk who killed the embryo through abortion was judged by Buddhist monastic rules as having committed a crime equal in gravity to killing an adult. In the commentary on the rule stated above, it is stated clearly that killing a human being means destroying human life from the first moment of fertilization to human life outside the womb. So, even though the Buddha himself did not give a clear-cut pronouncement about when personhood occurs, the Buddhist tradition, especially the Theravada tradition, clearly states that personhood starts when the process of fertilization takes place. Soraj Hongladarom
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The concept of personhood is a controversial area in that it has different interpretations. The view that came late in the 20th century that the fetus is considered a human being as early as four months after conception is called by some as the "fetal rights" position. This view holds that a fetus should be entitled to certain rights and protections up until the moment of birth. Others argue that personhood should not be granted until the moment of birth, and others argue that personhood should not be granted until an individual reaches the age of maturity.

Some hold that personhood does not exist until death, because until then personhood cannot be destroyed. Others hold that no one has ever been killed before conception and so there is no such thing as murder before conception. There is little or no concrete information on this topic.

Source: Genomics And Bioethics: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Technologies And Advancements

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