Swiss decide that plants have rights

The Weekly Standard ran an article by Wesley J. Smith of the Discovery Institute discussing how the Swiss government added a new clause regarding the treatment of animals and plants to their Constitution, then asked an ethics panel to interpret it. The panel concluded that plants have "dignity" and should be considered morally for their own sake simply because of the fact they're alive. Therefore, you can't just walk by some plants and chop them down without a reason such as harvesting them. Genetic modification is bad if it causes plants to lose their dignity, such as interfering with their ability to reproduce. Smith goes on to discuss how this overvaluing of plant and animal life correlates with a devaluing of human life, particularly in terms of experimentation.