Matthew Brophy (“Bush sneaks religion into science: Embryos are ‘human subjects’,” Nov. 6) feels the George W. Bush administration is “injecting religion” into science by defining human embryos as “human subjects” in scientific research.

I agree that this definition should be determined independently of religion, and I feel this legislation was reached in that way.

The timeline of human life begins at conception and ends at death, as human development is a continuous process. This fact becomes obvious through a basic understanding of genetics and embryology.

Intuition also tells one that the moment of conception is the only logical time where

human life could possibly begin. Attempting to start human development at a fetal stage not only defies scientific beliefs, but it is also suggests a completely indefinable point in time.

Religion is not considered in this conclusion, as science fully explains why a human embryo is still a “human subject.” Believing that a human embryo does not deserve the same ethical consideration as a fetus or an adult is a dangerous misunderstanding of human development.

Perhaps Brophy should try to understand science before he cries that religion is sneaking up on it again.