A single-cell ameba also has its own DNA and converts nutrients and oxygen into energy that causes its cells to change and grow" (Wall 126). An ameba has everything in common with a human zygote, except for the fact that it does not have the chance to develop into a human being; it will always remain an ameba. It is just as alive as the zygote, however one could never defend its human rights based on that fact. This clearly shows why there is much more to the dispute about abortion than this single question. .
Another question that must be considered is the question of "is it human?" Once again, the answer is yes. It does have the DNA of a human and, left to grow, it will eventually become a full human person. This is another area where anti-abortionists often mistakenly use this fact to support their cause. They would be correct in using this except for the fact that "just by having a full set of human DNA does not give a zygote full human rights- including the right not to be aborted during its generation" (Why Abortion is Moral). It is not the configuration of the DNA that makes a zygote human; it's the human DNA. This is a fact that many anti-abortionists fall short of understanding, and therefore ignore. .
When debating the issue of abortion, the question of "is it a person?" plays an important role; the answer to this is no. The Macmillan Dictionary defines a person as "being an individual or existing as an indivisible whole; existing as a distinct entity" (Levey 545). Anti-abortionists argue that each fertilized zygote is already a new person because it has a uniquely different set of DNA. In other words, since it is human, it must therefore be a person. The defining mark, however, between a human and someone who is a person is the state of consciousness. It is the self-aware quality of consciousness that makes us distinctively different from others. This responsive consciousness is also what separates us from every other animal life form on the planet.