D.Sklansky: Why is an embryo a person?

[maurile]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
An embryo will become a person if you let it. That's why I think that it is wrong to kill it. You are preventing a life from continuing its development to the point where it can be born.

I guess that makes me the third intelligent atheist to hold that view. In case you doubt my intelligence, I will let you know that I am an honours engineering/mathematics student.

[/ QUOTE ]

A sperm will become a person if you let it. Therefore, it is wrong to spill seed.

[/ QUOTE ]

A sperm by itself cannot become a person simply by letting it grow, you also need an egg.

Since an embryo is a fertilized egg, if you leave it be, it will eventually grow into a human being. The same cannot be said for either a single sperm or ovum.

[/ QUOTE ]
If you leave an embryo be, it will wither and die.

You need to add stuff to it (like nutrients), just like you have to add stuff to a sperm. It's a difference of degree, not kind.