Human Dignity and Bioethics

Commentary on Meilaender and Lawler| 289
Having granted that much, I would point out that the Declaration
refers to the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” I suspect that
Nature’s God is not quite the same as the Biblical God. Meilaender
says that the truth of human equality is a “theological assertion,” but
how strong a theology is required? In other writings, Jefferson argued
that it is not religion, but rather reason and science that will reveal
the truth of the Declaration. In a letter written just days before his
death, Jefferson said that
All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of men. The
general spread of the light of science has already laid open to
every view the palpable truth that the mass of mankind has
not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few
booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the
grace of God. 3
As we know, even if equal rights are self-evident, they are not selfestablishing.
The paradox of rights is that you have to hazard your life
and liberty in order to secure your right to life and liberty. The vindication
of the essential dignity of humanity depends upon the actions
of individuals who do amazing things like “mutually pledge to each
other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” As Frederick
Douglass never tired of telling his enslaved brothers:
Hereditary bondmen, know ye not,
Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. 4
This was a heartening message for both blacks and women, who had
the wherewithal to strike the blow and secure the dignified treatment
to which they were by nature entitled.
It may not be such a cheering message for the young or the drastically
impaired—although perhaps the answer that Locke gives about
the young is sufficient. He says: “Children, I confess are not born in
this full state of Equality, though they are born to it.” 5 Consequently,
our handling of them must always be aware of their directedness
towards rational liberty. Children are rights-bearers too. Accordingly,
the power of parents and guardians is limited; Locke insists it does
not extend to life and death. Immature human beings (embryos