Madam, - May I indicate a linguistic confusion present in much of the debate on when human life begins? Consider the following statements:
(1) The zygote is human.
(2) The zygote is a human person.
(3) The zygote is potentially a human person.
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(1) is a statement of a simple biological fact. The "is" in it is that of predication.
In (2) and in (3) the "is" is that of identity. It is about as rational to assert (2) as it is to assert, say, that the inhabitants of Athlone are unicellular. Therefore, (3) seems to be the best option. - Yours, etc,
JAMES MURPHY, The Pigeons, Athlone, Co Westmeath.