Stem Cells to the Rescue

In March 2009, President Obama lifted the Bush administration’s restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research. While Obama has angered opponents of abortion with his decision, I believe that he made the correct choice in paving the way for future medical advances that will benefit people with incurable diseases in ways never imagined. Not only are embryonic stem cells capable of “developing into any type of cell or tissue in the body,” but researchers believe that these particular stem cells may also lead to “treatments and cures for ailments as varied as diabetes, Parkinson’s and heart disease”—perhaps even “catastrophic injuries, such as spinal-cord damage.”

Opponents argue that stem cell research kills embryos who have the potential to become humans. But there are so many flaws in that argument. First of all, if it is unethical to conduct embryonic stem cell research and make good use of the countless already frozen embryos that will probably never live anyway, then is it not also unethical to keep these embryos frozen without the prospect of being implanted and allowed to develop into a fetus?

I don’t view stem cell research as killing babies but as saving innumerable lives. Billions of people suffer from incurable diseases with no hope of undergoing successful treatment anytime soon, but stem cell research offers them hope. Instead of investing in frozen embryos without definite identities, imagine the lives that we could save from stem cell research! These are the lives of people currently alive in the world—people who are breathing, feeling, experiencing, suffering. To me, they are of greater importance than nameless embryos that don’t breathe, feel, experience, or suffer.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/us/politics/10stem.html