I always cringe when people in the media say that opponents of ESC research believe that the embryo is a “potential human life.” In fact we believe that the embryo is already a human life with much potential. This video with Fr. Edward Richard from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis explains:
For the link click here: The Stem Cell Debate. But I warn you, there are some pretty nasty comments on there.
Here’s a great little video I found thanks to Wesley Smith. Take the stem cell quiz:
Pass it on: Stem Cell Quiz
Gov. Mitt Romney has been criticized for his sudden change of position regarding abortion. Many have claimed that the switch was purely political. I admit that I was a little skeptical myself. In an interview with National Review Online, however, the governor explains that this change came when he realized that how Roe v. Wade has cheapened the sanctity of life. A realization that came about over discussions on embryonic stem cell research, of which he is an outspoken opponent:
“My position has changed and I have acknowledged that. How that came about is that several years ago, in the course of the stem-cell-research debate I met with a pair of experts from Harvard. At one point the experts pointed out that embryonic-stem-cell research should not be a moral issue because the embryos were destroyed at 14 days. After the meeting I looked over at Beth Myers, my chief of staff, and we both had exactly the same reaction — it just hit us hard just how much the sanctity of life had been cheapened by virtue of the Roe v. Wade mentality. And from that point forward, I said to the people of Massachusetts, “I will continue to honor what I pledged to you, but I prefer to call myself pro-life.”…I do believe that the one-size-fits-all, abortion-on-demand-for-all-nine-months decision in Roe v. Wade does not serve the country well and is another example of judges making the law instead of interpreting the Constitution.”
Today marks the 7th year of my spinal cord injury and thus my 7th year in a wheelchair. Never, before last year, have I actually recognized this occasion or made a big deal about it. But I now see it as an opportunity to share what I have come to realize through my disability. In my original reflections I noed that the most important thing I have learned is that suffering is the key to salvation. It is the key to attaining knowledge and wisdom of God. It is no mistake that I share this anniversary with the feast of St. John of the Cross who writes:
“[t]he apostle Paul said of Christ: In him are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God…Would that men might come at last to see that it is quite impossible to reach the thicket of the riches and wisdom of God except by first entering the thicket of much [interior and exterior] suffering, in such a way that the soul finds there is consolation and desire. The soul that longs for divine wisdom chooses first, and in truth, to enter the thicket of the cross.”
This is a concept lost on the world which sees suffering as a great evil that must be avoided or eradicated at all cost. We encourage women and couples to have abortions and use contraception to avoid the burden of ‘unwanted’ children. We lobby for the right to ‘assist in the suicide’ of terminally ill or severely disabled patients to relieve their suffering and the suffering of their families. We kill disabled infants who are a burden to parents and the health care system. And now we want to create and destroy human embryos for scientific research because of the ‘hope’ it gives to those suffering with certain diseases and disabilities.
Christ endured the most agonizing suffering and death on the cross so that we might have eternal life. Until we enter into eternal life we must first endure life on this earth which is often filled with suffering of all kinds. Sufferings to be united to Christ on the cross. Many times I forget this and become discouraged, frantically searching for God, wondering where He has gone, and I am reminded again that He is there in the midst of my sufferings. He is in the constant pain in my neck and shoulders, the car in front of me driving 10 miles below the speed limit, the person who insults me and bruises my pride, and the loss of a friend or loved one; He’s in my shortness of breath, my frustrations with the world, and all of the struggles of my daily life. Christ is there because He suffered first – He suffered to give meaning to our sufferings.
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt. 16:24-25)
“For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I a weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinth 12:10)
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet 1:6-7)
It is good to do what we can to comfort and heal those who are afflicted, keeping in line with the dignity and sanctity of all human life. But for those sufferings which cannot be avoided, we look to Christ on the cross, and His mother at His feet, to give us comfort and strength.
Scientists have discovered that stem cells found in hair follicles could be an alternative to embryonic stem cells:
“Epidermal neural crest stem cells are found in the bulge of hair follicles and have characteristics that combine some advantages of embryonic and adult stem cells, according to lead researcher, Maya Sieber-Blum, Ph.D., professor of cell biology, neurobiology & anatomy. Similar to embryonic stem cells, they have a high degree of plasticity, can be isolated at high levels of purity, and can be expanded in culture. Similar to other types of adult stem cells, they are readily accessible through a minimally invasive procedure and could lead to using a patient’s own hair as a source for therapy without the controversy or medical issues of embryonic stem cells.
‘We see the potential for cell replacement therapy in which patients can be their own donors, which would avoid ethical issues and reduce the possibility of tissue incompatibility,’ says Dr. Sieber-Blum.”
They have been used in experiments in mice with spinal cord injuries and, “‘[T]he cells survived and integrated into the spinal cord, remaining at the site of transplantation and not forming tumors,’ Dr. Sieber-Blum says.” Not forming tumors is always a plus. The formation of tumors is the main problem that researchers have when using ESCs, something they haven’t found with ASCs.
Imagine being able to treat yourself using your own hair! How convenient!
This coming January 1 is World Day of Peace 2007. Vatican officials have released the text of Pope Benedict’s speech in which he maintains that true peace cannot be achieved as long as the killing of unborn children is accepted:
“’Respect for people promotes peace,’ the pope said in the statement as he stressed ‘the duty to respect the dignity of each and every person.’
…’The duty to respect the dignity of each human being, in whose nature the image of the Creator is reflected, means in consequence that the person cannot be disposed of at will’
…’Alongside the victims of armed conflicts, terrorism, and various forms of violence, there are those silent deaths provoked by hunger, abortion, experiments on embryos and euthanasia,’ he added. ‘How could all this be seen as anything other than an attack on peace?’
‘Abortion and embryonic experimentation constitute a direct denial of that attitude of acceptance of others which is indispensable for establishing lasting relationships of peace,’ the pope concluded.”
In 1994, Mother Teresa mentioned this very thing at the National Prayer Breakfast in DC:
“the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.
And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?
…Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
Indeed, peace will not be achieved while we accept the killing of innocent human life.
Today was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is the Protectress of the Unborn and the Mother of the Americas.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, we turn to you who are the protectress of unborn children and ask that you intercede for us, so that we may more firmly resolve to join you in protecting all human life. Let our prayers be united to your perpetual motherly intercession on behalf of those whose lives are threatened, be they in the womb of their mother, on the bed of infirmity, or in the latter years of their life. May our prayers also be coupled with peaceful action which witnesses to the goodness and dignity of all human life, so that our firmness of purpose may give courage to those who are fearful and bring light to those who are blinded by sin.
(from a prayer said at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on January 22, 1999)
Holy Mother of God and of the Church, our Lady of Guadalupe, you were chosen by the Father for the Son through the Holy Spirit.
You are the Woman clothed with the sun who labors to give birth to Christ while Satan, the Red Dragon, waits to voraciously devour your child.
O Help of Christians, we beg you to protect all mothers of the unborn and the children within their wombs. We plead with you for your help to end the holocaust of abortion. Melt hearts so that life may be revered!
Holy Mother, we pray to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart for all mothers and all unborn children that they may have life here on earth and by the most Precious Blood shed by your Son that they may have eternal life with Him in heaven. We also pray to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart for all abortionists and all abortion supporters that they may be converted and accept your Son, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior. Defend all of your children in the battle against Satan and all of the evil spirits in this present darkness.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, hear our pleas and accept this cry from our hearts!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Protectress of the Unborn, Pray for us!
Missing Ukranian babies, may have been killed and harvested for their stem cells. This report comes after women in the Ukranian town of Kharkiv claim that their newborn babies were taken by maternity staff after birth never to be seen again. They were later told that the babies had died at birth and were buried in a communal grave. Upon exhumation, the bodies were allegedly found with their organs removed.
Another story reveals the growing black market of smuggling aborted fetuses into Russia from the Ukraine to use their stem cells for BEAUTY TREATMENTS. They are even paying women to get pregnant for the sole purpose of aborting the child 12 weeks later:
RUSSIA and the Ukraine currently top the world abortion league, with more of the operations carried out here than anywhere else on earth. Evidence gathered by the Moscow police department has shown a growing black market in aborted foetuses, which are smuggled into Russia from the Ukraine and Georgia.
Here, poverty-stricken young women are paid 200 U.S. dollars to carry babies up to the optimum eight to 12-week period – thought to be best for harvesting stem cells. They are then sold on to cosmetic clinics.
‘The cavalier attitude of Russian cosmetic surgeons is grotesque,’ says Dr Minger. ‘The origin of the cells is ethically immoral.'”
This should remind us that we in America must never cease preaching the Gospel of Life. The way things are shaping up with the embryonic stem cell/cloning debate, this happening in America is not out of the realm of possibilities.
Recently umbilical cord blood from Hawaii was used to treat a man in France with Hodgkin’s disease. This is not the first time Hawaiian UCB has gone international, another unit was sent to a patient in Spain. Hawaii has also donated cord blood to many patients in the states. One interesting find in the article is that some patients, like the man in France, are being treated with a double dose of UCB cells, and that these cells, which don’t even have to match, are able to work together inside the patient:
“It is becoming established that using two cord blood units is an effective way to do a transplant on an adult who might otherwise be too large for a single cord blood unit.”The two units don’t even have to match each other, he said. “Yet in the end, only one unit engrafts in the patient. Rather than fighting it out with each other, the cells from the two units somehow cooperate so that one of them eventually takes hold and grows in the patient.”
I don’t know about you, but I find that fascinating! And they don’t have to kill an embryo to do it!
That tooth could save someone’s life. It turns out that baby teeth are yet another source rich in stem cells. The cost of storing them is about half of what it costs to store umbilical cord blood – a second option for families wanting to invest in stem cells for their chilren’s future. So…stick that under your pillow and sleep on it.