If you’re looking for an author who can help you argue about the origins of human life and the beginning of personhood, Maureen Condic is very good. She’s written a number of articles in First Things on the beginning of human life and stem cells (here, here, and here, to name but three). Now she’s authored a white paper for the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person called “When Does Human Life Begin?” Any of these might be helpful in your own education, and that of friends and acquaintances.