Yesterday’s hearing on stem cell research had testimony on why the federal government should/should not expand funding for embryonic stem cell research almost solely based on the promise/effectiveness of ESC research vs. adult. But that’s not the point. Human cloning and 
ESC research shouldn’t be funded by the federal government because it is unethical, period! This must be our main focus in the debate about whether or not to use or fund the use embryos for scientific research!
Pointing out the ineffectiveness of using ESCs so far is important and it helps to call to mind the fact that alternative resources exist, but there is still a very real possibility that ESC research could live up to the hype surrounding it. In which case, it is not really a question of science (can this research be done), but of ethics (should it be done).
Therefore we must focus on these key points if we are going to answer this question:
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–From the start, the embryo (or zygote or blastocyst) is distinct from any cell of the mother or the father.
–It is human in its genetic makeup.
–It is a complete organism, though immature, and unless prevented by disease or violence, will develop into the mature stage of a human being.
–Destroying human embryos in order to obtain stem cells for research or medical treatment is in essence killing one class of human beings to benefit others.
We’ve all heard the heartbreaking testimony of those who are desperate for cures and relief from their suffering, but hard cases and lofty goals don’t justify the use and destruction of human life, no matter how small or insignificant.
I am not a doctor or a scientist, but I am a human being and I can tell you for a fact that at one point in my life I was an embryo, and before that a blastocyst, and before that zygote. These, along with others like infant, toddler, child, teenager and adult are merely words used to define the various stages of the same human life, one whose nature (human) remains constant from the very moment of conception. Intentionally destroying life at any of these stages, no matter how noble the intention is, greatly diminishes the value of all human life and is wrong.
Personally I would love to be able to walk again and to see the sufferings of others diminished, but, I could never accept the harvesting of another human life, no matter how small, for some small earthly comfort.
See: Life at 4 Cells Old
Previous posts:
When Technical Progress Becomes a Threat
Live Life, Love Life and Honor Terri Schiavo
Today the House Committee on Health in the Energy and Commerce (Subcommittee on Health) will be holding a hearing titled Stem Cell Science: The Foundation for Future Cures.
See the witness list.
Listen to the webcast
Sorry for the late notice…it starts at 10 am EDT (that’s in 10 min!).
h/t Citizen Link
*11:40 am (CST): The hearing went in recess for over an hour and has resumed, so you can still listen to it now.
Upset by a “Cemetery of the Innocents” display at the University of Wisconsin, Student Senator, Roderick King went on a cross tearing rampage arguing that women have a right to choose, but that these students had “no right” to put up the crosses.
h/t: Students for Life
At one point in 2006 the Stowers Institute in KC promised to add hundreds of thousands of square feet to their research facilities if only Amendment 2 would pass and give Missouri researchers a constitutional right to clone and kill human embryos. Now almost two years have gone by, Amendment 2 has passed and two attempts to let voters truly ban this cloning research have been successfully defeated and Stowers have yet to make good on their promised research facility expansion. After the latest appellate court ruling basically in favor of these cloning supporters in our state, Laurie Roberts, a spokeswoman for the institute, said that they are still “not ready to proceed yet.” Why? Because:
“Those who oppose embryonic stem cell research have made it clear they will attempt another ballot initiative in 2010. We have a fiduciary responsibility to be assured that the political environment in Missouri is science-friendly before we invest in a second campus”
In other words, they’re scared, they know what we are capable of and they know that we will eventually win. They’re so afraid, in fact, that the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures has already spent over $2 million to fight against us - including $1.1 million in the past three months - and the Stowers Institute hired a campaign management firm from Washington, D.C. and is giving its website a $100,000 makeover (source). Remember, these people spent $30 million against us in 2006 only to win a mediocre victory. I have said this before: these people seriously underestimated the power and the passion of the pro-life faithful in this state.
If they were smart they would have let us try to go through with the cloning ban this year instead of trying to stall it in court for the last seven months only to now give us roughly two full years to train, educate and mobilize even more pro-life foot soldiers across the state. It is a fact that during the 2006 campaign the more people heard about the facts of human cloning the more they opposed protecting it as a constitutional right. That is why support for Amendment 2 saw a steady decline in the weeks and months running up to the election and why it only passed by the slimmest margin, despite its cushy 75% lead just months before. Because of this many have speculated that if the election had been held just a month or even a few weeks later Amendment 2 would have been defeated. That’s what happens when to truth is on your side.
Lucky for us the truth is still on our side and while we don’t want to repeal Amendment 2, we do want to truly ban all human cloning (which A2 did not do) in the state of Missouri and we’re as fired up as ever! Not only that but now we have even more time to prepare, strengthen and educate.
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve”
~Admiral Yamamoto
I’m not sure I would say that Missouri pro-lifers have ever been “sleeping”, but certainly our resolve has been strengthened. And when we’re motivated and faced with a challenge we are a force to be reckoned with.
Previous posts:
More Stem Cell Research Whining in MO
Pro-Life Efforts Paying Off in Missouri
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
Yes, Bella will finally be available on DVD tomorrow! Our Gospel of Life committee will be showing it at our parish sometime in the near future. Here is my review from this post:
“Man…cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself” (Gaudium et Spes, 24)
Bella is not just a story about the value of human life, but the value of human love. As I said in my post, Reclaiming the Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality, creating a culture of life involves not just recognizing the dignity of human life, but realizing our human vocation to love as God loves. This is a selfless, life giving love without boundaries - extending to family, friends, neighbors and even a needy stranger. Love is not just about romance; it’s not merely a feeling or emotion; love is a decision to give oneself as a gift to another (seen in the character of “Jose”) and to be open to receiving the gift of another in return (”Nina”). Our young men and women need to see this, if only on film, because far too many grow up without ever knowing this love, from parents, teachers, friends or lovers.
You gotta love these swell Bella fellas! Because there have been over a dozen confirmed reports that women have chosen to give life to their unborn children (even canceling scheduled abortions) after seeing this movie, Bella producers have launched the Bella 10 campaign, challenging fans to convince 10 people to buy the DVD (or give it away to them) who would then also convince 10 others to do likewise. Are you up to the challenge?
According to Life Site News, Bella star Eduardo Verastegui recorded an appearance with Fox TV’s Neil Cavuto tonight which may be broadcast tomorrow if it wasn’t on tonight already. He will also be on the Today show tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Previous posts:
Congratulations Bella!
The Swell Bella Fellas, on a Mission for God
The Appeals Court has issued a ruling and it’s pretty bad if you ask me. I don’t have time to go into much detail but here is the story. Basically they changed one word in SOS Carnahan’s disgraceful ballot summary. It doesn’t really matter at this point anyway because it’s too late to try to collect signatures to get it on the ballot this November (we would need to get 150,000 signatures by Sunday). Pretty disappointing, but now we must prepare for 2010! Here is the press release from Cures Without Cloning:
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – The Missouri Cures Without Cloning Initiative Campaign (CWC) won a partial legal victory today when the Missouri Court of Appeals ruled that part of Secretary of State Robin Carnahan’s ballot summary was “insufficient and unfair.” In the opinion, Judge Hardwick stated “Upon review of the Plaintiffs’ initiative proposal, we find no language to suggest that it would repeal the ban on human cloning…. The Secretary’s introductory language does not fairly summarize any goal or effect of the initiative proposal and is inadequate to give clear notice of its purpose.” While this was a big victory for CWC’s efforts to present Missouri voters with a clean vote to ban human cloning in Missouri, we are disappointed the court upheld the unsubstantiated prediction that this amendment would limit patients’ access to stem cell cures and treatments. There is no basis for this assertion. We are evaluating our options regarding appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court and pursuing relief from the Secretary of State for violation of our constitutional rights. Following is a statement by Lori Buffa, MD, chairwoman of CWC: “While there is some satisfaction from today’s decision, the deadline to submit the approximately 150,000 signatures necessary to place the measure on the November 2008 ballot is Sunday. Clearly, it has been the intent of Robin Carnahan and those who support human cloning in our state to abuse the initiative process and prohibit us from placing a true ban on human cloning on the ballot. However, justice delayed will not be justice denied. CWC will continue our educational efforts throughout this year and resubmit our initiative in November. Hopefully, by this time next year our vast organization of trained volunteer circulators will be collecting signatures for the 2010 election cycle. “Missouri Cures Without Cloning is committed to banning human cloning and taxpayer funding of human cloning in Missouri. Our broad coalition continues to build support as we have gained thousands of supporters from all areas of the state. Momentum is on the side of our growing movement as Missourians become aware of the human cloning loophole in our constitution. As we continue to share the truth about human cloning in Missouri, more and more of our fellow citizens will join us in supporting a true ban on human cloning in 2010.” Missouri Cures Without Cloning (CWC) is leading a broad-based, statewide coalition of grassroots organizations committed to prohibiting the cloning of human beings in Missouri. Interested citizens are invited to visit www.MOcureswithoutcloning.com for more information.
COURT OF APPEALS RULES CURES WITHOUT CLONING INITIATIVE IS NOT A REPEAL; CAMPAIGN WILL CONTINUE ON TO 2010
Previous posts:
Cloning Language in Court Today
A Triumph of Truth and Justice!!
MO Cloning Ban Update
More Missouri Manipulation
‘Missouri Manipulation”
Disgraceful Ballot Language Approved
I will be heading to Kansas City today for two events featuring Christopher West and Theology of the Body. This has been a very important teaching for me and has helped evolve my thinking about how to build a culture of life. Encouraging respect for the life of the unborn is only part of it. There must also be a new “sexual revolution” which reclaims the truth and meaning of human sexuality and protects the sanctity of the marital embrace which is meant to be both unitive and procreative. It is the prevalence of contraception and the acceptance of casual sex that has lead to many of the problems we associate with the “culture of death” - abortion, HIV/AIDS, pornography, divorce/breakdown of family life etc… That is precisely why JPII said in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae:
It is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not help the young to accept and experience sexuality and love and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection (n. 97)
I just spoke to a group of high school students about TOB last Saturday at a PSR retreat. The retreat leader later told me that the overall reaction from the students was, “WOW.” Wow indeed! That was my reaction when I first heard it! As JPII biographer George Weigel said, TOB reshapes the way we think about our “embodiedness as male and female, our sexuality, our relationships with each other, our relationship with God - even God Himself” (source). This is a message that our youth, and really all of humanity, is hungry for, for it explains nothing less than the deepest longings of the human heart!
Christopher West is probably the most well known expert on JPII’s theology of the body and does an excellent job of explaining it in a way that is non threatening and very easy to understand. I have listened to him quite a bit in the last few years and look forward to seeing him in person! You can read some of West’s articles at the Catholic Education Resource Center. Topics include:
What is the Theology of the Body & Why is it Changing so Many Lives?
God, Sex, & Babies: What the Church Really Teaches about Responsible Parenthood
In-Vitro Fertilization and the Hermeneutic of the Gift
A Basic Theology of Marriage
The Theology of the Body & The New Evangelization
John Paul II’s Theology of the Body: Key to an Authentic Marital & Family Spirituality
Celibacy for the Kingdom & the Fulfillment of Human Sexuality
And an interview with Christopher West
See also JPII’s 129 general audience addresses that make up TOB.
Previous posts:
Reclaiming the Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality
Theology of the Body in KC
JPII and the Culture of Life
The Missouri bill to criminalize coerced abortions has been moving along in the legislature. It has passed the House and a public hearing was completed in the Senate this Monday. It has also sparked an onslaught of negative editorials and letters to the editor claiming that the bill is disrespectful of a woman’s right to choose. Apparently these people have never actually heard from some abortion minded women who succumb to such a choice, not because they want to, but because of heavy pressure from parents, boyfriends, abortion clinic workers and society. From Operation Rescue:
“The most common statement I have heard in my 24 years of counseling abortion-minded women has been , ‘You don’t understand. I don’t have a choice,’” said Operation Rescue spokesperson Cheryl Sullenger. “There are so many women out there who do not want to abort their babies, but do so because they feel pressured or threatened by people in their lives to the extent that they do not believe they can resist. Abortion mills are all too happy to play on the fears of these vulnerable women because today, due to the shrinking demand for abortion, there is cut-throat competition for each abortion dollar.”
OR also has published stories of women who suffered coerced abortions at George Tiller’s abortion clinic in Wichita KS.
And according to this LifeSiteNews article about former abortion clinic owner Carol Everett:
In order to sell as many abortions as possible the telephone “counselors” at Everett’s clinics were trained to lead distraught women callers to think that there is only one solution to their unwanted pregnancy, and then to assure women that their child is only a “blob of tissue” and that the procedure itself will be basically painless.
This is the real threat to a woman’s “right to choose”. And this is why we must support our crisis pregnancy centers. They provide care and hope where others project only fear and despair and they help these women fulfill their calling to love and maternity - a dirty word in the feminist mindset of today’s society.
Previous post:
Exposing Forced Abortions in Missouri
It appears that a large majority of gynecologists in Italy really take their role of doctor (”healer”) seriously:
Nearly 70% of Italy’s gynecologists refuse to perform abortions, citing “conscientious objections,” according to a report released on Tuesday by the Italian Health Ministry, AFP/Google.com reports. This is a sizeable increase from 59% in 2003. The percentage of anesthetists who refuse to assist in abortions increased from about 46% to 50% during the same time period.
When a woman is pregnant there are two patients present. Abortion is the direct killing of one patient done, in most cases, solely for the convenience of the other. This is clearly a violation of the doctor’s duty to do what he can to maintain or improve the life and health of his patients.
Not only that, but I imagine it takes a pretty hard heart (and a strong stomach) to perform abortions on a recurring basis. Watch this video from a former abortion provider about what happens to people who continue to perform abortions.
Good for the Italians!
Here are some more good ethical life science news stories for you:
Heart Derived Stem Cells Develop Into Heart Muscle
Cell-based Therapy Shows Promise In Patients With Parkinson’s Disease
Is it just me, or is the hype surrounding embryonic stem cell research is just starting to sound more and more ridiculous and unnecessary? Clearly there are ethical alternatives to using human embryos for scientific research that are proving to be easier to work with and more effective in both animal and human studies. But then when cloning/ESCR supporters promise nothing less than miracle cures and an all out end to human suffering (yes, that is seriously what they claim, I’ve heard it), I suppose, everyone needs a fantasy.
Previous post: Ethical Life Science News
