Perhaps Rowan Williams’ brain isn’t as waterlogged as I first thought. He appears to support the idea that humanity begins at conception and continues beyond the the point where old age or disability has robbed us of the appearance of sentience.

Hence the reverence which as Christians we ought to show to human beings in every condition, at every stage of existence. This is why we cannot regard unborn children as less than members of the human family, why those with disabilities or deprivations have no less claim upon us than anyone else, why we try to makes loving sense of human life even when it is near its end and we can hardly see any signs left of freedom or thought.