Fertile ground for argument

Re “On the cusp of life, and of law,” Oct. 6

The push to legally define embryos as persons is aimed at abortion, but the core of the debate isn’t whether an embryo constitutes human life. Of course it does. The real debate has to do with the rights of embryos.

A person, any person, does not have the right to life if it depends on using another’s body without permission. We do not force others to donate bone marrow, blood or even postmortem organs to save a life, none of which risks the life of the donor. The embryo or fetus cannot survive without the huge and risky sacrifice of the mother, and therefore has no right to life without her permission.

Kathy Harty

Arcadia

ou mean that some states want to give legal status to an embryo but not to millions of hardworking people? That some states want to legally recognize a clump of cells but not legally recognize two loving people? Unbelievable.

Karenina Rojas

Oxnard

Re “She can donate; who will adopt,” Oct. 6

The main reason for global warming: There are too many people on this planet. That one of the women you interviewed casually decided that the embryos she had left should “be made into babies” is shocking. Anybody who cares about carbon footprints should be against fertility research and in-vitro procedures, which often lead to couples having twins or triplets when they only wanted one baby.

Karin Howard

Los Angeles