Embryonic Stem Cells Research Bill: Veto shows moral courage

President George W. Bush should be applauded for its July 19, 2006, veto of the bill embryonic stem cell research funding. He had the courage to do the right thing despite the enormous political pressure.

Embryonic stem cells are extracted from the blastocyst about five days after fertilization (IVF). In other words, a new human life is conceived and then, after a few days is killed in order to obtain the stem cells. President Bush is right to condone, promote, finance or even killing that is going through a moral line that should be unacceptable to all.

Again: when does life begin?

This brings up again the definition of when life begins has been discussed ad nauseum in the battles pro-life/pro-choice since before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in most of 1973. Pro-choice supporters have felt that life begins at birth, while pro-life advocates point to conception as the moment life begins.

Roe decided a mediating position, concentrating on the road, the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb. It is believed that abortions during the first quarter, one state has compelling interest t0 ensure that abortions are performed by a licensed physician in a clinical setting. In the second quarter, further state's interest is to protect maternal health. During the third quarter (or after viability), the State may restrict abortions to those women whose lives are endangered by a continuation of their pregnancy.

In the three decades since Roe, the advances in prenatal medicine have prompted the viability closer and closer to conception, making Roe obsolete rules. Many children are born today, following in vitro fertilization and subsequent implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus of a donor or a surrogate mother. Approximately 22% of the IVFs result in live births.

The pro-life position on when life begins is simple: when conception occurs, the resulting embryo is a unique human being genetically indistinguishable from a baby, and it's definitely alive. Everything that happens after you add the nutrition and growth. To conclude that life for any reason is morally wrong. Certainly we do not want to start an industry dedicated to the creation of human life, only to kill while the collection of blood components to be used as "spare parts".

The Bible affirms the value of human life by pointing to God as its source. All human beings derive their life from the original couple, Adam and Eve, whose life came directly from God Himself (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:07, 21-23, 5:1-2). It recognizes the continuity between the prenatal and neonatal life (Psalm 139:13-16, Jeremiah 1:4, Luke 1:41-45).

There is no alternative?

Stem cell research offers many promising approaches to treat diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease, spinal cord, and liver failure. Do not turn our backs on the millions who suffer from these debilitations opposing factory as the production of embryonic stem cells that kill embryos? No!

A number of alternatives exist for obtaining embryonic stem cells, including the lines to be grown in the laboratory, the cells collected from the umbilical cord blood (previously discarded after birth, but now collected in a growing number of hospitals), the cells retrieved from the pulp of baby teeth, etc. Adult stem cells are an alternative source that is finding increasing demands.

We affirm the value of human life, protecting it from becoming a commodity to be bought and sold. At the same time, we continue to develop therapeutic applications of stem cells. There is an either / or dilemma.

Want to dig deeper? Authoritative information on stem cells from all sources is available from the National Institute of Health.Check out "Do No Harm", the site of the Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics (stemcellresearch.org), which is primarily aimed at providing information Trusted about the superiority of adult stem cells in embryonic stem cells for the development of therapeutic treatments. The famous saying, "Do no harm", is neither the famous oath of Hippocrates', originally the creed of all physicians, but from another work of Hippocrates, On the epidemics 1.2.5. The oath of Hippocrates the same concepts, including prohibitions on euthanasia and abortion. In modern times the oath has undergone substantial changes, the changes that undermine this principle in order to avoid damage and completely omit any reference to prohibitions.For above the value of blood cord blood as a source of stem cells that avoids the controversy over the killing of human life, do a web search for "Stem Cells Sans Discord."...