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Stem Cell Issue Prominent Across the Nation
Across the country the issue of stem cell research is causing an ethical uproar and is revealing a rift in conservative unity. Many states are considering legislation to allow, with varying restrictions, embryonic stem cell research and cloning. Many fear a split between social conservatives and economic conservatives over this issue. The recent constitutional amendment in Missouri that established a constitutional right to clone and kill human embryos provides a note-worthy example. On the national level, the battle rages between supporters and opponents of federal funding for unethical stem cell research (with tax-payer dollars).
The issue: Stem cells (sometimes called the "building blocks of life") are rejuvenating cells which can produce specific types of tissue. The bone marrow that produces new blood cells and the skin cells that heal a wound are good examples. Stem cells can also be found in human embryos after the first few days of life.
These cells are revolutionizing the concept of medicine. Any tissue that has been damaged or destroyed could theoretically be replaced with stem cells. Hearts weakened from heart attack could be strengthened and spinal injuries or neurological diseases could be treated with new nerve cells produced by stem cells.
The controversy: The controversy arises when we consider the two types of stem cells.
- Adult Stem Cells are mature (adult) body cells and have been successfully used to treat many disorders in ways that were previously considered impossible. In these types of procedures stem cells are taken from the patient and introduced into tissues where they are needed. This results in genetically identical tissue that makes possible a multitude of medical miracles. Umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid are also exciting sources for adult (non-embryonic) stem cells.
- Embryonic Stem Cells have not yet been successfully used to treat disorders but proponents stress the fact that these cells have the potential to become any human cell (they are pluripotent) while most adult stem cells seem to be specialized only to specific tissue. Embryonic stem cells are harvested from five-day-old human embryos (blastocysts) resulting in the destruction of the embryo.
The claims about embryonic stem cells: Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent (can develop into virtually any type of tissue) because they have not yet begun the process of differentiation (development into specific body part cells). Because of this, some researchers believe embryonic stem cells will be more useful for treatment purposes than adult stem cells.
Proponents of embryonic stem cell research are careful to emphasize the diseases they feel could be cured or treated with this therapy. Though even the most staunch supporters agree that any treatment from embryonic stem cells would be decades away at best, celebrities like Michael J. Fox (victim of Parkinson's Disease), the late Christopher Reeve (spinal cord injury), Nancy Reagan, and Ron Reagan, Jr., fervently advocate the destruction of embryonic life for research purposes to start immediately and with full government funding. While treatment of these types of diseases should definitely be a priority, we cannot ethically sacrifice the life of one human being for the quality of life of another.
The problems with using embryonic stem cells:
- Destruction of Life: In order to harvest stem cells an embryo must be destroyed. Genetically the embryo is fully human and thus is entitled to full legal rights.
- Unnecessary: Adult stem cell research is very promising and has already provided incredible treatment for patients with diseases and injuries that would ordinarily be untreatable. Also, there is good reason to believe that pluripotent stem cells can be obtained from somatic (body) cells which would make the destruction of human embryos unnecessary.
- Health Dangers: Embryonic stem cells frequently cause tumors because of their inherent unpredictability and because of the artificial environment in which they are grown. In fact embryonic stem cells are so fundamentally different from fetal and adult sources that it is doubtful they could ever be successfully used in actual medical treatments. Even when embryos are made genetically similar to the patient (through cloning), bodily rejections still often occur.
- Danger to Women: In order to achieve one set of usable stem cells, hundreds of embryos must be destroyed. Particularly in the type of cloning often involved with embryonic stem cell research, thousands of donated eggs are needed. This high demand for human eggs would result in the victimization women (especially poor women) because of the grave health risks associated with egg harvesting.
Click here for relevant quotes on cloning and stem cells from experts.
The Push for Human Cloning:
Many advocates of embryonic stem cell research also heavily endorse a method of human cloning known as Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT). Proponents claim that this procedure is not actually cloning but it is in fact the same process used to create Dolly the cloned sheep. The motivation behind cloning human embryos is to try to get around the many scientific and medical problems inherent to embryonic stem cell research. Human cloning is and will continue to be an important ethical issue facing our nation. Click here for more information and helpful diagrams about human cloning.
Video Resources:
Audio Resources:
National news and resources:
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"I am opposed (to embryonic
stem cell research) but not
only for ethical reasons.
Mother Nature made
embryonic stem cells to
proliferate and adult stem
cells to replace and repair.
To defy Mother Nature's
laws is, at least, dangerous."
—Dr Carlos Lima
Expert in the treatment of spinal
cord injury with adult stem cells
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Stem cells in the news:
Cloning in the news:
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"First, do no harm"
—Hippocrates,
father of Western medicine
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Educational resources:
Stem cell and cloning issues around the country:
California
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President George W. Bush with a
"snowflake," a child who was adopted
while a frozen embryo, soon after
vetoing H.R. 810, a bill to federally fund
embryo-destroying research, on July 19, 2006.
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Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
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"To claim that an embryo
produced by cloning is not
really an embryo, in order
to justify destructive
experimentation on it, is
arbitrary and 'self-serving'."
—Embryologist Jonathan Van Blerkom
of University of Colorado
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Kansas
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
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"An embryo is not a potential human life
— it is human life with potential."
— Ron Stoddart
founder of Nightlight Christian Adoptions
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Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
New Jersey
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"Though produced in a new
and bizarre manner, a
cloned embryo grows and
develops as a living organism
in the same way as one
produced by fertilization."
—Professor Lee Silver
of Princeton University
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New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Rhode Island
Texas
Virginia
Wisconsin
Pro Family | Pro Justice | Pro Religious Freedom | Pro Morality | Pro Life
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| Proverbs 14:34 — Righteousness exalts a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people. |
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