Broad Definition of Person
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If you find Brody's argument plausible, you must follow the thread and consider possible objections. A critic might argue that loss of brain and heart functions does not mark the end of a person's life after all. They mark the death of the organism, but the person is gone when the higher brain functions are irreversibly lost. If this view is accepted, the embryo/fetus only becomes a person when the higher brain functions emerge. The physiological basis of such functions emerges late in pregnancy. The functions themselves (e.g., abstract reasoning) do not appear until after birth.

Why should we accept a definition of humanity or personhood that stresses heart and brain functions that people have in common with lower animals? After all, it is personhood that we need to understand.

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