Scientists love to give themselves “ethical guidelines” — only to “reevaluate” and revise those guidelines when they are no longer convenient. A perfect recent example of this came this May when scientists in two separate studies reported keeping embryos alive, healthy and developing for 12-13 days. In both studies the embryos grew autonomously and began processes that lead to organ … Read More
Let’s Not Sit Idly By While the Brave New World Advances
My friend and BioTalk partner, Rebecca Taylor, recently wrote on the horrifying reality we currently find ourselves with regard to genetic engineering and human cloning and expressed her frustration at the…mild (to put it kindly) reaction from pro-lifers. I feel her frustration. To their credit, some of the mainstream pro-life news sites do report on these issues. But are pro-lifers paying … Read More
BioBytes: No Limit Parenthood
• On February 3 the UK House of Commons voted to make Britain the first country in the world to offer controversial ‘three-parent’ fertility treatments. This week the House of Lords sealed the deal. On February 24, by a vote of 280 to 48 the House of Lords gave final approval for scientists in the UK to start creating three-parent … Read More
The Scientific Case Against Three-Parent Embryos
An informative interview with Prof Stuart Newman, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College, on the ethical concerns regarding “three-parent IVF” Prof. Newman isn’t the only scientist to caution against three-parent IVF. Prior to this month’s vote in the House of Commons, Dr Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher and associate professor at the University of … Read More
Audio: Three-Parent IVF and Euthanasia Updates
I was on The Mike Allen Show early this morning to talk about the troubling cultural embrace of 3-parent IVF and euthanasia http://www.reflectionsofaparalytic.com/audio/Mike-Allen-show-02-18-2015.m4a (Can’t see the player? Direct link to the episode here.) I didn’t get a chance to mention it on the show, but I encourage you all to sign this petition to stop UK proposals for germline genetic … Read More
Wesley Smith’s 2015 Bioethics Predictions
As he does every year, the CBC’s resident psychic, Wesley Smith, takes a look into his crystal ball (or whatever) and tells us what he sees happening in the world of bioethics in the coming year: I believed last year—and still do—that the Canadian Supreme Court will declare a constitutional right to assisted suicide. The case was argued last year … Read More
Your 2015 Bioethics Challenge
Should you choose to accept it, Zachary Gappa from the Center for a Just Society has a New Year’s challenge for pro-lifers: this new year I beg people to take some time to learn more about bioethics. The stakes are high. Our definitions of life, death, and human dignity are up for grabs, so we must not abdicate our moral duty … Read More
Biotalking with Dr. David Prentice
At the National Right to Life Convention this summer I caught up with Dr. David Prentice, Senior Fellow for Life Sciences at Family Research Council, and chatted with him a bit about the current status of the great “stem cell debate”, how scientists are tinkering with human life these days and what, if any, positive signs he sees for trying … Read More
The Age of Cloning is Here
In light of some recent “breakthroughs” this year, Wesley Smith explains why it is time for us to ban human cloning…now: Human cloning is here. After years of effort, scientists manufactured human life using the same process that created Dolly the sheep. There is no way around it: The age of human cloning is here—unless we act now to prevent … Read More
Victory for Women in California
On Tuesday Governor Jerry Brown of California surprisingly vetoed a bill that would have permitted biotech companies to buy eggs from women for scientific research. The Center for Bioethics and Culture released the following statement: We applaud California Governor Jerry Brown for his leadership in vetoing AB 926 yesterday. This bill would have allowed women in California to be paid … Read More