When does a person become a human being? I’ll get back to this question in a moment.

As I was researching material for this article I came across a story about the co-creator of The Simpsons, Sam Simon.

“Back in 2012, Sam Simon — best known as one of the creators of The Simpsons — was told he had terminal colon cancer and only three to six months to live. Since then, he’s been preparing to give away his entire fortune to the causes that matter most to him.”

Simon is 59 years old and worth $100 million. And what are some of the organizations that Simon will be donating his fortune? PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and other animal rights causes.

Articles about Simon’s generosity are everywhere. In an interview with NBC’s Maria Shriver, Simon said the following about the motivation for his love of animals:

“‘A lot of it is selfish,’ he said of his reasoning with a laugh. ‘I get to watch these animals that have been in concrete bunkers their whole life, I get to watch them take their first steps on grass, I get to fly my friends out.’

“His passion is motivated, he said, by those animals that can feel and think but ‘can’t speak for themselves.’

“‘They’re dependent on us for that and so I feel that it’s my responsibility to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves,’ he said.”

In addition to donating millions to animal causes, he is also donating money to Save the Children and Feeding Families and other worthy causes.

What I found fascinating is Simon’s reasoning, that these animals “can’t speak for themselves,” and they are “dependent on us.”

Now we come to actress Ellen Barkin. Barkin has not had an illustrious career in Hollywood, but Wikipedia reports that she is “Barkin is an outspoken Twitter user”:

“[She came] under scrutiny in August 2012 when she retweeted the message of one of her followers that read: ‘C’mon #Isaac! Wash every pro-life, anti-education, anti-woman, xenophobic, gay-bashing, racist SOB right into the ocean! #RNC’1 She did not express any disagreement in her retweet. Barkin has also stated on Twitter that she is an atheist.

It’s all starting make sense about this report on a recent tweet Barkin made about abortion:

“Actress and abortion absolutist Ellen Barkin took to Twitter Nov. 1 to declare when life begins. (She’s not a scientist, but maybe she played one on TV once.) According to Barkin, fetuses, babies and infants are not ‘persons’ because they ‘cannot talk.’ . . .

“‘News flash … a fetus cannot talk,’ Barkin tweeted. ‘It is not a person. Not even a baby, not even an infant. Nope. Sorry.’”

Just-born babies can’t talk. What are they? What about deaf people who can’t talk?

According to Simon, animals deserve to be taken care of because they “can’t speak for themselves.” But according to Barkin, unborn babies who can’t speak for themselves should be flushed down the toilet.

I’m sure glad Ellen Barkin wasn’t Helen Keller’s mother. If she had been, young Helen, who was blind, deaf, and mute, might have been taken out back and had a bullet put into her non-person brain.

1. I’m guessing that RNC means Republican National Convention. [↩]