In Dr. Suess’ work Horton Hears a Who, Horton is often quoted as saying “Even though you can’t see them or hear them at all, a person’s a person no matter how small.” Though it was never intended to have a role in the abortion debate, this quote raises a key question: just how small is small? Should something smaller than a grain of rice, namely an embryo, be viewed and valued as a human being or simply as a group of cells with the potential to become a human being? Over the past few decades, the answer to this question has become increasingly more important. According to some estimates, there are hundreds of thousands of embryos that remain frozen in fertility clinics across the country. These are embryos that remained unused after fertility treatments and are commonly referred to as “snowflake babies.” Often, couples leave these embryos frozen indefinitely as they struggle with what to do with them. With this assignment, I hope to first consider the value of an embryo and, in light of this, to secondly determine the most ethical course of action to be taken in regard to these frozen embryos.

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