The phenomenon of human life has been continuously discovered from various perspectives, including biology, sociology, religion, and philosophy. In my opinion, the only way to define the value of a human being is not to isolate this definition from any of the aforementioned concepts. Indeed, the biological value of a human being concerns the maintenance and development of the ecosystem and the production of new human beings in order to continue the existence of humankind. The religious value of a human is to do good in the name of God and build a blissful community around them both during and after life.
The sociological and philosophical aspects of human life concern the emergence and gradual development of a community that establishes certain norms of behavior and interaction with each other while driving progress and evolution of human intelligence and relations.
For this reason, I believe the human value to be somewhere in the middle of these definitions, with every human choosing the path closer to their perception of life and existence in general. In my opinion, while there is no answer to when human life begins, the most appropriate answer in the modern context would be when the human being becomes physiologically independent, that is, at one’s birth (Gilbert, n.d.). However, it by no means implies that the embryo should be disregarded or not perceived as a genesis of a new life, as all stages of human development are to be respected equally with respect to the parents’ opinion.
Essentially, I do not think that people should have a definite stance on the matter of the most recent discoveries in medicine, including alternative ways of fertilization, abortion, or euthanasia. The phenomenon of pluralism is a driving force of modern society, giving people a choice the see the same situation from various perspectives. While, in some ways, abortion or surrogate might be a conscious choice between various options, some precedents do not leave people with a choice. Furthermore, people have no obligation to justify their autonomy in order to prove the relevance of their choice, as we are all entitled to be human beings with fundamental freedoms.
Reference
Gilbert, S. (n.d.). When does personhood begin? Swarthmore. Web.