Sacrifice Theory: Obama’s Executive Order for Stem Cell Research
Despite the majority of reports to the contrary, President Obama has been doing Presidential-type things other than choosing the Tar Heels to win it all in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship and apologizing for not reading the entire AIG stimulus specifics. On March 9th, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order that removed existing barriers to responsible scientific research involving human stem cells; barriers that were employed by former President Bush in mid-2001.
Human stem cells are the master cells in the body. Stem cells removed from human embryos just a few days old can divide to reproduce themselves or any of the 300 other cells found in the adult human body. Stem cells can be harvested from aborted fetuses or from excess embryos stored at in-vitro fertilization clinics. Both methods of obtaining stem cells require release from the “parents” of the embryo. Potential usage for stem cells includes repairing or replacing damaged human tissue, leading to scientists’ hope for treating and curing diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease, stroke, and diabetes.
In a time when Ben Bernanke (Fed Chairman) and Tim Geithner (Treasury Secretary) are not household names this is actually a hotly debated issue. Devil’s Advocate Question here; How can cells removed from human embryos that have the promise of curing disease and assisting in the manufacture of organs to replace damaged organs in adults possibly be debated?
The debate resides in peoples belief in when life begins. Opponents of stem cell research argue that life begins when a sperm fertilizes an egg, therefore viewing harvesting stem cells as killing a live human, and in some cases go so far as to compare stem cell research to the experimentation on concentration camp internee’s by the Nazi’s in World War Two. Whatever your feeling on what or when constitutes human life, the embryos that are being utilized for stem cell research are obtained either from surplus stock of in-vitro fertilization clinics or from aborted fetuses, and will be destroyed.
If we agree for the sake of argument, that human life begins at the moment of conception, wouldn’t it be better if those lives were not lost in vain? Abortion is legal in the United States, and people will continue to exercise their right to receive one, but can we not also realize some societal good through the harvesting of stem cells for research so that we might one day cure the debilitating diseases that stricken adults in the United States?
I for one am glad to see that our President recognizes the possibilities inherent in stem cell research and hope that the scientific advances will come quickly and abundantly.
