A reader sends this anecdote:

“My nephew and I talked last night about abortion.  I could tell that he was troubled by the fact that at the earliest stage in his or her development, the developing child looks like a glob of cells.  “‘Most people can’t connect that picture with a baby,’ I remarked, ‘because that’s not how babies look.’

“He looked at me and asked, ‘So what’s your answer?’

“I pulled out a picture of a little girl and asked, ’Do you know who this is?’

“‘No,’ he answered.

“‘It’s your grandmother when she was four years old.  Does she look like your Gramma?”

“’Not a bit.’

“‘And yet, they’re the same person.  So what the embryo, or the child, or the grandmother looks like doesn’t really help answer the question, ‘Who is this?’

“A lightbulb seemed to go off for him.  Just thought I would pass it on.”