White House Stem Cell Report

ChelseaAdult Stem Cell Research, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Politics, Pro Life, Stem Cell ResearchLeave a Comment

The White House has released a domestic policy report regarding stem cell research. It is titled, Advancing Stem Cell Science Without Destroying Human Life and it is a great overview of what we know about stem cell science and some alternatives to using human embryos that are being explored. I am very proud of our President for sticking to his principles on this important issue and for not ignoring the science in the process. Stem cell science is broader than just embryonic stem cell research. There are a number of other sources for human stem cells that do not involve the destruction of nascent human life, many of which have qualities similar to those found in human embryos.

The report also includes an appendix on embryo adoption and another addressing human cloning.

Key Text:

Embryos are humans in their earliest developmental stage. We do not have to think that human embryos are exactly the same in all ways as older humans to believe that they are entitled to respect and protection. Each of us originated as a single-celled embryo, and from that moment have developed along a continuous biological trajectory throughout our existence. To speak of “an embryo” is to designate a human being at a particular stage.

Our nation was founded on the principle that all of us are created equal, and endowed with a right to exist that is shared fully by all humans. There is no such thing as an excess life. And the fact that a human lacks some particular capacity, or even is going to die, does not justify experimenting on that individual, or exploiting him or her as a natural resource. That has long been the standard in medical ethics—as encoded in the Hippocratic Oath, as well as more modern codes like the Physician’s Oath in the 1948 Declaration of Geneva, which states: “I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from the time of conception.”

A policy that defends the inviolability of human life does not preclude the hopeful possibilities of new findings and new therapies. It simply means we must harness the creative powers of our advancing knowledge only to humane and morally balanced means and ends. Amidst today’s dizzying pace of technological innovation, it is worth taking care to make sure that our moral and ethical policies keep up. The biotechnology revolution will bring sound and wholesome human results over the long run only if it is sensibly governed.

The stem cell debate is only the first in what will be an onrushing train of biotechnology challenges in our future. We must establish a constructive precedent here for taking the moral dimensions of these issues seriously. We must make certain we don’t force ourselves into a false choice between science and ethics—because we need both.

Search and Destroy

ChelseaAbortion, Pro Life, Right to LifeLeave a Comment

George Will has a column this week about the latest announcement from American and Canadian OB-GYNs that all pregnant women have their unborn child screened for Down syndrome. Will’s son, Jon, was born with Down syndrome over 30 years ago. His column examines what he calls a “search and destroy mission” to rid the world of people living with Down syndrome. As he puts it, this is a result of the “entitlement mentality” of our society in which parent’s think they have a right to perfectly healthy children and should not have to deal with any abnormalities. Approximately 85% of Down syndrome pregnancies end in abortion. Sadly this alarming trend with only increase as the science to detect other genetic diseases inside the womb progresses.

“it has become routine to abort babies like Jon because they are like Jon. Without this combination of diagnostic advances and moral regression, there would be more people like Jon, and the world would be a sweeter place.”

More from George Will
Jon Will’s Aptitudes, published in 1993
Eugenics by Abortion

Brownback a Pro-Life Superhero?

ChelseaPolitics, Pro Life, Right to LifeLeave a Comment

brownback.jpgYES! I unfortunately missed Sen. Brownback’s speech to the March for Life crowd yesterday. I wanted to watch the whole thing but I was running around most of the day and didn’t get to catch any of it. The Washington Post reports that the Presidential hopeful was more than well received at the Family Research Council’s “Blog for Life” event yesterday (hmm…that sounds like something I should have been at). Sen. Brownback is very optimistic about his chances of winning the primary, starting in Iowa: “Over 40 percent will not vote for anybody who is not pro-life — period. You know, if I can do 40 percent in this field, I’d probably win.” Considering who he’s running against, he may be right.

Brownback for President

Giuliani Presided Over Declining Abortion Numbers

ChelseaAbortion, Politics, Pro Life, Right to LifeLeave a Comment

Rudy GiulianiDeroy Murdock has a critique of former mayor, Rudy Giuliani’s abortion position. Apparently during his time as mayor of New York City decreased by a little over 16%, which was slightly more than the national average of the same time period. Murdock suggests that this occurred because, while Giuliani has claimed to support a woman’s right to choose, even suggesting that he would support his own daughter financially if she ever decided to have one, he didn’t do anything to actively promote or advance abortion while he was in office. He just did nothing.

So is this better than actively opposing abortion? You can decide that for yourself. It is always nice to see abortion numbers go down, whatever the reason. But I still think that I prefer a candidate who believes in the sanctity of all human life and wants to see a country that will protect life from its very beginning.

Brownback for President

All Life is Sacred

ChelseaAbortion, Prayer, Pro Life, Right to LifeLeave a Comment

Today is the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. There is so much that I would like to say, but I have a very busy day today. But I did not want to leave you empty handed all day. Some appropriate reading today would be Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI and Evangelium Vitae by JPII. Both are wonderful encyclicals that reflect on the meaning of human life and examine the effects of contraception and abortion on society.

Hundreds of thousands of people are in Washington D.C. right now marching for life. You can watch the march live, with commentary, on EWTN today. Last year they aired the march on c-span, but I’m not sure if they will do it this year. There are brave men and women marching for life today, many from the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, and they all deserve our gratitude and respect. Another inspiring story I would encourage you to look at is that of the brave 13-16 year olds in New York who participated in the national day of silent protest organized by Stand True – Christ Centered Pro-life. One girl was silenced by her principal and is standing up and fighting back and is an inspiration to all of us to strive to protect the lives of the unborn.

Prayer to End Abortion

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!

National Sanctity of Human Life Day

ChelseaPro Life, Right to LifeLeave a Comment

For all of the criticism President Bush may rightly deserve, there is one area in which he has not failed to please. He has remained consistent in his support for the protection and defence of the fundamental right to life. This coming Sunday, Jan. 21, by proclaimation of President George Bush, is National Sanctity of Human Life Day.

America was founded on the principle that we are all endowed by our Creator with the right to life and that every individual has dignity and worth. National Sanctity of Human Life Day helps foster a culture of life and reinforces our commitment to building a compassionate society that respects the value of every human being.

Among the most basic duties of Government is to defend the unalienable right to life, and my Administration is committed to protecting our society’s most vulnerable members. We are vigorously promoting parental notification laws, adoption, abstinence education, crisis pregnancy programs, and the vital work of faith-based groups. Through the “Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002,” the “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003,” and the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004,” we are helping to make our country a more hopeful place.

One of our society’s challenges today is to harness the power of science to ease human suffering without sanctioning practices that violate the dignity of human life. With the right policies, we can continue to achieve scientific progress while living up to our ethical and moral responsibilities.

National Sanctity of Human Life Day serves as a reminder that we must value human life in all forms, not just those considered healthy, wanted, or convenient. Together, we can work toward a day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 21, 2007, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon all Americans to recognize this day with appropriate ceremonies and to underscore our commitment to respecting and protecting the life and dignity of every human being.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Tony Snow on Fire in Defense of Pres. Bush’s Stem Cell Policy

ChelseaEmbryonic Stem Cell Research, Politics, Pro LifeLeave a Comment

White House Spokesman Tony SnowI don’t think the White House could have chosen a better spokesperson. Tony Snow is fiercely accurate and unafraid to take on media criticism. In a recent exchange with one reporter, Snow defended President Bush by stating:

“There’s quite often a regrettable implication that in opposing [embryonic] stem cell research — which, in the President’s view, involves the taking of a human life — that he shut off stem cell research. As a matter of fact, we’ve spent unprecedented amounts of money looking at all forms of stem cell research…Furthermore, the President has not outlawed, as often as seemed to be alleged — he’s not outlawed embryonic stem cell research. States have set aside money for doing it. Individuals continue to provide venture capital for it. But the President believes that American taxpayers should not have to make the fateful decision of asking themselves, does this come at the price of a human life.”

This statement is spot on. Opponents of the President’s stem cell policy often inaccurately remark that he has shut the door on embryonic stem cell research, eventhough he is the first president to allow federal funding for any ESC research. One could argue that he has actually opened the door to ESC research in the United States. I really don’t know how many times we have to repeat this before it starts to sink in. Of course, the sad fact is that it will never sink in because admitting it would weaken critics’ claim that the President as anti-science and anti-stem cell research. When pressed whether the Administration would listen to the words of the opposition regarding stem cell research, Mr. Snow fairly fired back, “Yes. And will the opposition listen to us? That’s also the question.” Bravo!

Embryos are People Too

ChelseaEmbryonic Stem Cell Research, Politics, Pro Life, Right to LifeLeave a Comment

Rebekah and Noah MarkhamMeet Noah Markham and his mother Rebekah. Two weeks after hurricane Katrina hit, 1400 embryos were rescued from a flooded New Orleans hospital. Noah was one of those embryos. Noah is, was, and always will be a human being. Nothing was done to that embryo to magically make it become a human being. The same embryo that was rescued from that New Orleans hospital was implanted into Rebekah’s womb, grew to full term and was finally born a healthy baby boy. He’s no more human now than he was over nine months ago in a petri dish.

Ironically, Baby Noah was born just 6 days after the U.S. House voted to expand funding for research on other embryos just like Noah and the 1399 other embryos rescued in LA. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer defended the bill, stating that it would only authorize funding for research on “embryos that would otherwise be discarded by fertility clinics” and that, instead of destroying life, this legislation would provide the scientific communitywith the “tools it needs to save lives.” I’m sure baby Noah would disagree.

Rudy Giuliani

ChelseaAbortion, Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Politics, Pro LifeLeave a Comment

Rudy GiulianiAs a pro-life ‘conservative’ I consider myself Republican because the pary declares on its platform that the right to life of the unborn must be protected. So I am a little concerned about the person who many consider one of the Republican front runners. Rudy Giuliani is very popular and a proven leader, mostly thanks to his wonderful performance as mayor after Sep. 11, and he is an all around likeable guy, I used to love it when he would guest star in skits for Saturday Night Live. Even some conservative ‘leaders’ seem to have embraced him. Though I don’t listen to Sean Hannity regularly, I know that he has had Giuliani on his talk show a number of times and appears to have a favorable opinion of him politically. But the former mayor is also very pro-abortion, is even against a ban on partial-birth abortion, and favors making taxpayers fund embryonic stem cell research. So now he is trying to remidy this by appointing pro-life former Rep. Jim Nussle as the head of his presidential exploratory committee. This does not change his official position on abortion and ESC research, and is most likely an attempt to soften his image on the subject. I pray that voters will see through it and support a candidate who will protect the lives of our weakest citizens.

My vote:
Brownback for President

Republican Party Platform
see page 84, “Promoting a Culture of Life”

Lives Not Worth Living, Take II

ChelseaAbortion, Disabled, Embryo Screening, Right to Life, Suffering1 Comment

christinaayers.jpgIt seems that both American and Canadian OB-GYN doctors have agreed that all pregnant women not just those over 35, should screen for Down Syndrome. On the outside this seems reasonable, I mean many women already find out whether their child is male or female prior to birth, so what’s wrong with testing to see if that child will also be born with some disease?

The problem is that we live in a country that allows abortion – for any reason at any point during a pregnancy, even up to the day of birth. We also live in a country that is so afraid of sickness and suffering that we consider it “compassionate” to starve severely disabled people to death rather than have to care for them and watch them suffer.

Gynecologists recommend this screening for the sole purpose of giving women a chance to terminate the life of her unborn child if it is at risk of having down syndrome. The logic of these “doctors” is just sickening. The executive VP of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada remarked, “Yes, it’s going to lead to more termination, but it’s going to be fair to these women who are 24 who say, ‘How come I have to raise an infant with Down’s syndrome, whereas my cousin who was 35 didn’t have to?’” The women may not even have to get an abortion, however, because some of the procedures they use to screen for DS could result in “pregnancy loss” – an acceptable risk, according to the former chairman of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, since a miscarriage is “not as problematic as the birth of a Down syndrome child.”

It looks like Margaret Sanger’s dreams are finally coming true. By screening for diseases inside the womb to give women the option of terminating the life of her possibly disease stricken child, we are inching our way toward realizing Margaret’s vision of creating a “race of thoroughbreds” through contraception and abortion.

More info:
OBGYN.net Guide to Clinical Preventive Services