If you already have your mind made up about stem cell research and the repercussions to the global community, please stop reading and go to some other blog or article. This article is specifically for those who have heard the term "stem cell research" but have never been exactly sure what that meant. Note: I am not an expert on this topic but I just learned a bunch about it today and wanted to pass on what I have learned before I forget why I took the notes I took. So bear with me and I will try to make this as clear as I possibly can. Also, for more in depth information, please go to Rebecca Taylor's website and she is an expert (as well as a Catholic).
The first point is SCIENCE IS CLEAR - Human life begins at the time of conception, period. At the time of conception, the embryo becomes a unique, one-of-a-kind organism. A being with DNA different from any other and is simply at the beginning of its developmental journey. This is not Catholic teaching but scientific fact.
The next point is simply to clarify where the actual debate lies in regards to abortion, etc. The real question is when does life have value? Catholics (including myself) believe that life has value at the moment of conception until its natural end. Obviously, others do not believe that life has value at any stage of development (embryo, birth, adolescence, middle age, or maturity). This is evident by the number of abortions that are "legally" performed in this country every year as well as the acceptance of "assisted suicide" (another topic for another blog article).
As a Catholic, I believe that all human life is precious and should be respected in every stage of life. I also believe that all embryos (fertilized human eggs) have the RIGHT to be "begotten not made", is a GIFT, and should never be a man-made product. The most loving, safe place that an embryo can have is in its mother's womb. Every embryo deserves the best - in every stage of our life including at the moment of conception.
The last point I want to make concerns another highly controversial topic, abortion. With the legalization of abortion in 1973 paving the road to "reproductive rights" for mother, the right to life of the embryo was completely ignored. This leads to the absence of rights for the embryos in the lab and/or those frozen/forgotten/abandoned.
Okay, now that we have some of the preliminary stuff out of the way, let's dig in.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): IVF means that an embryo is created - fertilized - in a petri dish. Embryos that are viable and implanted into a mother's womb are gifts from God - let there be no mistake. The babies created in this procedure are not the issue, but the embryos that are not implanted ARE the issue. These embryos (remember, these are unique human organisms at their first stage of development, not just a bunch of cells) are frozen in antifreeze (yes, I said antifreeze). IF they survive the freezing process (75% of those frozen are damaged by this process), they are often abandoned or simply forgotten by their biological parents (and legal owners). It is estimated that there are about a half a million leftover embryos in this country.
What to do with the leftover embryos? The scientific worlds solution is to use them in stem cell research. Sounds viable, right? But is it ethical, not even close! In order for the scientific community to harvest the stem cells from these embryos, they must completely destroy the organism (note: some scientist claim they can extract stem cells without destroying the entire embryo but it is not a 100% deal - it might or might not damage the entire embryo). This means the human life that is contained in this embryo - frozen or not - is totally destroyed (a.k.a. killed). No two ways about it.
There are two types of stem cells - embryonic stem cells (ESC) and adult stem cells (ASC). While it is true that any cell can be created from an embryonic stem cell (including placenta); however, there are other inherit problems with using these cells in the bodies of other human beings (rejection likely, tumors definitely probable [and not just normal tumors but ones filled with teeth, bones, hair]). On the other hand, using our own adult stem cells (taken from our skin, fat, bone marrow) can be used without fear of rejection (since it is from our own bodies). Other ASC's can be harvested from placenta as well and can be useable in various ways as well. But the most advantageous stem cells are the ASC's that are taken from our very own body.
Cloning (a.k.a. Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer [SCNT]): It is important to know all of the terminology used by the scientific community to pull the wool over our eyes (no pun intended). So please special attention to the "a.k.a." Basically, this is where a twin is created from a cell and then destroyed for their stem cells. This is called "therapeutic cloning" (makes it sound like we're helping, doesn't it). These embryos are basically the twin of the donor (who, we assume, is fully human) and then grows it to a point that it is fertilized (human organism) and then destroys it. When did it become okay to destroy one human being to save another? NEVER.
This is quite a long article (especially for me) but I feel very passionately about this subject. Rebecca opened by eyes to the lies that are constantly and consistently being thrown at a population that doesn't care one bit about the rest of the humans on this planet - including those who do not have a voice of their own.
Please go to Rebecca's website, learn everything she has to teach (she makes the scientific stuff make sense even to a non-science geek like me) and then join me and the other pro-life individuals in this country and fight the oppression and injustice that is happening daily in this country. If we do not take back control of our country and it's moral health, this country as well as the rest of the world, will continue a downward trek to a country that can only be imagined in current "science fiction". Do not let your daughters or granddaughters become egg farms in the future, or have any of our children or grandchildren witness the inhuman conglomerations of human and animal DNA (it has been done so we know it can happen - thankfully they were destroyed so we do not know the end results). We need to bring back the moral fiber that this country was founded on - do not allow this to go any further. We have to elect government officials that will abide by the moral, human, and natural laws and not allow anyone (scientists, doctors, other politicians, judges, etc.) to play God. It is not their job - it is God's job.
God bless and my apologies for not cutting this a bit shorter but I feel every syllable is important to understanding the ramifications of the actions of a few individuals. It is our moral obligation to make these changes happen.
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