NL holds that humans have a particular dignity by simple virtue of being human. You don’t need to do anything in order to have inalienable and fundamental human rights; you simply need to be. In fancy language, it’s an ontological matter.
Being human can be determined scientifically. Are you an individual organism which is self-determined and genetically distinct, containing the requisite number/type of chromosomes? If yes, you’re human. If no, you’re not. If you are, you have certain natural rights. The most basic of these rights is the right to life, because upon it all other rights are predicated.
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