Ah, sperm. Those microscopic little swimmers we often take for granted -- well, except when we're trying not to get pregnant. But today, dear readers, I'm here to defend sperm. Yes, sperm is alive! Forget your notions that life begins at conception. Life clearly starts long before then -- because, science tells us, sperm is living tissue. And if sperm is alive, and if the anti-abortion movement insists that destroying life is the height of immorality, then folks... we need to have a talk about all those wasted little guys.
The Science: Let's get real for a second -- sperm are not some lifeless, inert substance. Oh no, they're lively little critters with flagella flapping, mitochondria buzzing, and a singular mission: to find an egg. They move, they squirm, they even compete with each other! So, if we define life as a cell capable of growth, movement, and reproduction (which is precisely what anti-abortion advocates like to argue when discussing fetuses), then my friends, sperm qualifies.
And don't even get me started on the metaphysical potential! Every sperm cell has the possibility of becoming a future senator, or worse, a future televangelist. How could you kill the next Billy Graham by simply tossing a sock into the laundry? How dare you?!
Reductio ad Absurdum: Now let's take this pro-life logic and run it into the ground, shall we? If life begins at conception, what are we to do about all these millions of sperm being flushed away every day? Every ejaculation sends forth an entire army of potential lives. Sure, maybe only one (or in some unfortunate cases, two or more) make it to the big leagues of conception, but what about the rest? Are they just collateral damage? Do we simply look the other way as we consign these tiny beings to their watery grave? The horrors!
By the same logic anti-abortion folks use to protect embryos, we should be holding candlelight vigils for every spermatozoa lost down the drain. And, for the love of God, think of the mass sperm genocide happening on gym towels across this great nation. Shouldn't we have a Supreme Court case to protect sperm rights? After all, if destroying life is immoral, then ejaculating outside the possibility of conception is nothing short of mass murder.
Every Man is a Murderer: By now, you're probably thinking, "But Matt, this is ridiculous! Sperm can't survive without an egg!" To which I say: Bingo! That's exactly the point. Anti-abortion rhetoric is similarly absurd when it suggests life begins only at conception. If we were to accept the premise that all life is sacred from the moment of its biological creation, then ejaculating into a condom or a tissue is just as morally reprehensible as abortion. And oh, my fellow men, that means we are all guilty. Every. Single. One.
Sorry fellas, but if anti-abortionists are right, then every man is a serial killer in the making. We've been recklessly destroying life in our socks, in the shower, and (gasp) even in the backseats of cars since puberty.
Conclusion: So, what's it going to be? Will the pro-life crowd take this argument to its logical conclusion and ban ejaculation? Or will they acknowledge that the debate over when life begins is a lot more complex and nuanced than they'd like it to be? Either way, next time you're about to "let one fly," maybe hold a little funeral for the billions of lives you're about to snuff out. It's the least you could do.
Until then, I'm off to buy some sperm-shaped candles for my next vigil.
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