[ QUOTE ]
Since an embryo is a fertilized egg, if you leave it be, it will eventually grow into a human being.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like the other replies to your comment, but wanted to add one thing. (I am assuming that by "human being" you mean "person" as defined above.)

You are arguing that a zygote will grow into a person. Implying that it is not a person right now. That's fine. I agree (for the most part - since it's no guarantee that it definitely will, but it is likely).

But potential people are not people, and do not have the right to life. Every cell in my body is a potential person -- it just needs a little genetic engineering to eventually become a clone of me. Obviously, though, my cells do not have their own right to life -- I can choose to kill any of them without being convicted of murder.

So, like luckyme said, this thread is not directed at your view -- that a zygote is a potential person. We could have a different discussion (in a different thread, preferably), about the value of potential persons (e.g. zygotes), and what legal rights we should grant them. This thread is directed at the atheistic view that an embryo IS a person, and therefore has the right to life.

I await D.Sklansky's response. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]