The Morality of Using Stem Cells

One third of all fertilized eggs spontaneously abort and are expelled from a woman's body. We do not have funerals or mourn these embryos. Could it be that they are not really "babies" yet? Only when it is convenient do people call these clumps of cells, babies or fetuses. They are not fetuses. Stem cells are retrieved when the embryo is about five days old. There is a big difference between an embryo and a fetus. The thought of not using a five day old clump of cells that is going to be thrown away is irrational. It is not a person. Yes, it is life but so is a cow headed for the slaughterhouse or a stalk of corn.

The biological clump of cells used in embryonic stem cell research is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. It has no nervous system and is not able to experience any senses or feelings, that means no soul. It has no plans to become a human. What it does have is the potential to cure diseases for millions of people. It is just a possible cure but we need to find out and to do that we need to fund research.

In the fertility clinics around the country, extra embryos are sitting in freezers awaiting disposal, if not kept for the possible creation of a sibling. Many couples opt for disposal instead of having that embryo used to create a child for someone else because they do not want their child raised by someone else.

Multiple embryos are created to insure that at least one is viable. Shouldn't these embryos be used to help others instead of being trown away? What is the possible benefit of throwing them away instead of using them for research? Does a five day old clump of cells have the same moral value as a child?

Stem cells are cells that can replicate themselves and also generate more specialized cells as they multiply. Stem cells occur at all stages of human development from embryo to adult, but their versatility and abundance gradually decrease with age. While embryonic stem cells may become any of the 200 different types of specialized cells that make up the body. An embryonic stem cell could become a cardiac muscle cell, nerve tissue, connective tissue, bone marrow, a skin cell, blood components, part of the digestive tract, etc. Adult stem cells appear to be less versatile than embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cells could possibly be used for organ transplants. People are dying waiting for transplant organs all of the time.

To put it bluntly, why would anyone rather a few cells be thrown away in a bio-bag as opposed to helping another human being live to his or her potential?

Jackie Wellman - author of Spiritual Clarity, http://www.hoppy.bravehost.com, http://spiritualclarity.blogspot.com

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