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"What about the sperm that is just about to penetrate the egg to fertilize it? Naturally, it's about to become a zygote, and eventually, a person. Can I kill the sperm at that point?"

No. At least not if you believe you shouldn't kill non cognizant embyos.

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Very consistent answer. I bet the Christians will have a harder time agreeing with that, though. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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On the other hand if the point of demarcation is true cognition, then it isn's murder until the baby is maybe 13 months past conception.

Fuzzy cognition may occur at five months and some may argue for that to be the cutoff point.

My only point has always been that the question should not be based on whether the baby is inside or outside the womb. I have no problem with those who argue that killing a newborn is not necessarily murder.

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I agree -- in or out of the womb doesn't matter much. What matters, is the state of the embryo. If the embryo has the qualities that a person requires, then it is a person. If not, then it isn't. I maintain that the defining requirement is higher-brain activity -- a functioning cerebral cortex. This is currently thought to occur around the 6th month / beginning of the 3rd trimester.