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Embryos as Persons | ||
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Since you believe that the embryo is a person, you must answer
critics. Consider that most of the properties that make people
unique have to do with thinking in certain ways that animals,
for example, do not.
Usually people can think logically, be aware of themselves as thinking beings, have hopes and aspirations, make decisions, and be morally responsible. But an embryo cannot do any of these things. You must argue that it is plausible to leave all of these elements out of the definition of "person". Ask yourself this question: What would it mean to say that an embryo consisting of a few dozen cells is a person? What characteristics of an adult does that embryo share? Do none of the traits listed above matter? If not, why not?
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