Monday, July 17, 2006

Stem Cells

As we've all heard by now, President Bush is prepared to make his first veto since taking office in 2000. He's planning on killing the DeGatte/Castle bill that would expand federal funding for stem cell research. Now, prepare for something that may shock you. And I may lose some respect for this by some, but I think this may be a wrong move. Don't get me wrong. I'm as opposed to abortion as I ever was, but I think there is room for compromise here. And I think this bill is it. Because it suggests taking embryos, not from aborted babies, but rather those left over from invitro fertilization. Yes, it's still abortion, but it's not some whore coming in for her third time. These embryos would be disposed of anyway. The requirements for which the embryos will be used, from the DeGette/Castle bill
Embryos used to derive stem cells were originally created for fertility treatment purposes and are in excess of clinical need

The individuals seeking fertility treatments for whom the embryos were created have determined that the embryos will not be implanted in a woman and will otherwise be discarded

The individuals for whom the embryos were created have provided written consent for embryo donation.
We all know that stem cells do have the potential to cure diseases. Does it still make me uneasy? Yes, but life is full of compromises. Sometimes we have to support things we don't necessarily like. I hate war, but I support it when our troops are called. But beware being so blind as to think that embryonic stem cells are the only hope. Because there have been successes with adult and umbilical stem cells.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just my 2 cents (for what it's worth).......

As a woman with left over embryos still in "the freezer" from IVF (yes, I know - TMI), I have no problem with the stem cell research using "left over IVF embryos". I also manage clinical research, and I understand some of the ramifications of how this veto will hurt all other stem cell research work (including privately-funded research). With the anti-stem-cell situation, a research unit/facility can not conducting embryonic stem cell research and use the same facility/equipment as any other government-funded research grant. So, in order to conduct embryonic stem-cell research, and university/research facility must either build a separate facility and/or use separately purchases equipment (which is rediculous). Therefore, many facilities don't conduct this research at all - it is not economically viable for them to do so. Thus we have severly impeded ALL embryonic stem cell research, not just that funded by the government.

Anonymous said...

Let the market deside the research. There is no reason in the world why GOVERNMENT funds are needed or should be used.(except that is the mothers milk of liberalism).
The stem cell funding folks made a massive error in linking government funding with successes in research. Especially knowing about how the majority of Americans feel about the genocide of the unborn. Now real and genuine research will suffer for that linkage.
Lesson: Do not choose liberals with a pro-abortion agenda to drive your funding campaigns and PR.
Just my point of view from middle america..you know..flyover country as the libs love to say.