DETERMINING THE MORAL status of a human embryo means that a moral principle is applied to biological facts by human reasoning at some point in a biological process. The point in the process chosen unites natural facts as understood by humans with ideas of ought, or right, or moral principle(s). The evaluative reasoning used to make a moral judgment about the moral status of an embryo has numerous consequences. The consequences significantly affect the embryo, individuals related to the embryo, and society as well.

The moral status of a fetus that is the product of natural reproduction is a matter that has been generally settled around the world from millennia of human experience. The developments of modern medicine making abortion very safe have reopened the issue ...