Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Welcome La Shawn Barber viewers! Make yourself comfortable and look around. I’ve been actively blogging since April 2005 so check out my archives for some interesting stories and videos.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about embryonic stem cell research and how it is going to help disabled people like myself. I’d like to give my viewpoint on this very important issue. For the sake of brevity let me summarize a few points regarding stem cells and research using the two types of stem cells.

1. Stem cells are valuable because they can grow into other kinds of tissue which could possibly allow regeneration of damaged tissue in the human body.
2. Adult stem cells come from umbilical cord blood and other areas of the human body and they do not cause damage when they are extracted. Currently, there are at least 65 conditions in the human body that are treated using adult stem cells.
3. Embryonic stem cells are extracted from human embryos and the embryos must be destroyed in order to extract the stem cells. Supposedly they have the ability to become any kind of human tissue and to reproduce themselves indefinitely. When out of their natural environment they are hard to control and grow into tumors and other unwanted tissue. After 24 years of research on both mice and human embryonic stem cells there are no treatments using embryonic stem cells.

Did you know there had been 24 years of research on embryonic stem cells? I didn’t know this until I started reading about it on the Internet. Funny how the mainstream media and Liberals forget to mention that fact. Additionally they never tell you that there has been ongoing research for many years on both adult and embryonic stem cells without the aid of government funding.

In 2001 President Bush allowed taxpayer funds to be used on the approximately 78 embryonic stem cell lines that had already been created prior to that date. To my knowledge no embryos were destroyed using taxpayer funds. In May of this year the House of Representatives passed a bill to remove the taxpayer funding restrictions and allow researchers to destroy the over 400,000 excess human embryos in cold storage at fertility clinics around the country so that those embryonic stem cells can be used in research.

If research on embryonic stem cells has been going on for over 24 years without taxpayer funds then why do we need it now? After 24 years there has been no treatments developed from embryonic stem cells. Those laboratories using embryonic stem cells were getting them from wherever they can find them and thus destroying human embryos in the process. Contrary to what mainstream media and Liberals want you to believe, there is no law against embryonic stem cell research and, prior to President Bush’s action, there was no taxpayer funding of it.

Another myth that the liberals in this country want you to believe is that there is a cure just around the corner if only it would be allowed to come about through taxpayer funding. The truth is embryonic stem cells are not yielding treatments of any kind even after 24 years of research using them.

I believe this lie is being perpetrated not because they believe they will be saving lives through embryonic stem cell research but because they want to keep abortion on demand legal. This is why they want to have this research paid for by taxpayer dollars. They want to get the federal government involved to legitimatize abortion on demand. Liberals knew they could not legalize abortion on demand through the legislative process because the majority of people in this country view abortion on demand as morally repugnant. So, they used liberal judges who made up a so-called right to privacy not found in the Constitution. Because of advances in science we now know more about how life begins in the womb and we can clearly see that what is happening during an abortion is killing a precious human life. Now liberals need to find another way to keep moral and ethical support for abortion on demand and the way they are doing that is by creating a need for destroying human embryos.

Yes, it’s true, that President Bush and Senator Frist are both suggesting that only those embryos already destroyed be used for research. It sounds good in theory but from my view it is a slippery slope. A whole class of humans will be used solely for the purpose of research that has not yielded anything useful in the way of a treatment. Don’t believe the lies! Adult stem cells are the only ones that have provided any kind of treatment.

We do not need the government getting involved in medical research because there are plenty of pharmaceutical and biomedical firms who are doing research without the help of the government. Furthermore, the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution have established that it is the role of our government to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If we get government involved in the process of destroying human life in order to save human life we are putting ourselves at great risk. It’s a risk I’m not willing for the government to take on my behalf.

6 Comments:
At August 03, 2005 5:04 PM, Garrett O’Hara said…
Well written. Very good work.

At August 04, 2005 4:21 PM, Renee said…
I just finished a chapter on stem cell research for an entry level science class I am taking. Luckily I have a good instructor who knows both sides of the issue and therefore the instructions was not pro or con, just stating all information on both sides. BTW, I cam over from La Shawn’s site. I think I will stick around 🙂

At August 04, 2005 5:11 PM, JannyMae said…
Thanks for helping get the truth out about stem cells! I’m so tired of seeing and hearing people say that, “President Bush is against stem cell research.”

At August 08, 2005 6:30 PM, Thomas More said…
Just curious: how do you feel about fertility medicine? Because the embryos (I would call them blastocysts, but whatever) that are used come from fertility clinics, and many are created that are just thrown away. So what would you have done with the 400,000 nascent humans? Would you have these fertility treatments outlawed because they destroy what you believe to be a human being?Slippery slope, indeed.

At August 08, 2005 11:04 PM, Karen of Scottsdale said…
Thomas: I have concerns about fertility clinics and the thousands of unused embryos. I have read that many couples donate their unused embryos to other couples so they can have a child. My biggest concern is that taxpayer funds not be used in the destruction of embryos for scientific research because the government needs to protect the rights of the defenseless.

At August 09, 2005 8:34 AM, Thomas More said…
What sort of “concerns” do you have? Because it seems to me, if you believe these embryos are humans, throwing them away as part of fertility treatments would be as bad or worse than using them for research.Seems to me that you would advocate outlawing these practices, whether the government funds them or not. A human is a human is a human, right?I agree with Michael Kinsley on this:http://slate.msn.com/id/2090244/