[jpadkins]

My thoughts on this topic have also followed this same line of reasoning. My conclusion was to use the existing standard we already accepted for legal death. There is an established standard for when a doctor can declare someone 'legally dead' (absence of heartbeat and brainwaves). We should use the inverse for a legal definition of life. If a doctor can detect a heartbeat and certain brainwaves, then a second is involved and all laws applying to humans are in effect.

[PavlovsCat]

But doesn't the direction matter? Not having a heartbeat because the heart is still forming seems different from not having a heartbeat because, well, the heart isn't beating anymore.

[einhverfr]

But whatever line you grab is a socially constructed line. Legally dead is a social construct, right? We could have said that braindead is not legally dead if we wanted.