and the many
             biological similarities between a fetus and a fully-grown human being. As
             Daniel Callahan, director of the Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life
             Sciences observed: "Genetically, hormonally and in all organic respects
             save for the source of its nourishment, a fetus and an embryo is separate
             from the woman" (cited in Shettles and Rorvick 18-19).
             There is wide consensus among the scientific community that human life
             begins when the human sperm impregnates the human egg. Medical textbooks
             recognize that this zygote is "a beginning of a new human being"
             (Cunningham 60). Furthermore, medical research has proven that a fetus is
             "a living organism from the moment of conception" (Gargaro 37). The union
             of sperm and egg results in a cell with 46 chromosomes. That one
             fertilized cell has shares an important similarity with the rest of the
             humans in the world. It already has DNA, the complete genetic code for a
             Advances in science and technology have further reinforced this
             argument. Parents routinely rejoice over sonograms showing their babies at
             six weeks old. Mothers listen for heartbeats or the faint flutter of
             kicks. To them, the embryo or fetus is more than a mere blob of cells - it
             Medicine has helped make the point of viability earlier. Premature
             babies born at 24 weeks survive in greater numbers, while some babies born
             at 20 and 21 weeks have survived with medical care (Meyers 174). When
             these babies are born, they are again viewed as persons and thus receive
             In the same vein, a woman who suffers a miscarriage is not told that
             she has lost a fetus or an embryo. Instead, she grieves over a lost baby.
             ...