"Mini-brains" and "mini-organisms" are now being constructed by reverse engineering skin cells back into their original form as stem cells, which can then be groomed to transform into brain cells, spinal cord cells, or muscle cells. These final transformations can multiply until they become blobs of homogenous tissue - proto-organs. These proto-organs can then connect to each other in functional ways, such that the mini-brain can connect to the mini-spine which connects to the mini-muscle, and a functional relationship can be established and even triggered at will by external stimulus.
What do you think is the spiritual/moral significance of these blobs of cloned cells? It would seem that the abortion debate would play a large role here. Is a mini-brain a life? Does it have a spirit? If so, when does the spirit arrive? Can a mini-brain suffer? Does a mini-brain have rights merely because it has human DNA? If you shed skin cells, are potential clones being robbed of their potential future life?
Normally, there is no moral problem with voluntarily destroying skin cells (minor scratching, surgery, etc.), yet skin cells are 1) alive, 2) have human DNA, and 3) have the potential to be a sentient life. If destroying one's skin cells is morally acceptable, then aliveness, human DNA, and potential are morally irrelevant factors. Why should we apply these factors to the abortion argument if they don't apply to the skin argument?