Embryonic stem cell research is one of the most hotly debated research topics in America today. Is it ethical to tear apart a human embryo in order to obtain life saving treatments for those of us who are already outside of the womb? Stem cell research has been used for treatments for auto immune diseases like Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have personal experience with this disease and I realize that it could potentially cripple me. Stem cell research has also helped some with type one diabetes. My grandmother has suffered from this for over twenty years. Even though she has type two diabetes if there is treatment for type one then there is a big potential for treatment of type two. Through stem cell research treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Motor neuron disease, and many others have been found according to http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1637528.ec.... There are different types of stem cell research. You can get stem cells from adults, children, and umbilical cord blood. But I am here to talk to you about embryonic stem cell research. This is where fertilized embryos are taken apart in order to obtain the cells. This kills all potential for life for the embryo. But there are many things to think about when it comes to this. These embryos come from invitro fertilization. Invitro fertilization is when a couple cannot get pregnant. So they go to a specialist and they put their egg and sperm into a petry dish that is then implanted in to the uterus of the woman. They use more then one egg here and therefore, more than one egg is fertilized. The specialist does not implant all of the fertilized eggs. So what do you do with the other fertilized eggs? The couple has the choice of either freezing the fertilized eggs for up to five years or discarding them. So the fertilized eggs that are not being frozen are just going to get thrown away. And the ones that are being frozen, if they are not used in five years then they are going to be thrown away as well. In my humble opinion, that is throwing away the potential to save thousands of lives. Why throw this potential away? Some people say that all individual human beings are unique because God made every human unique and that every human has a purpose. Well who is to say that God's purpose for an individual is not to save thousands of people. An embryo has no nervous system therefore it cannot feel pain and it cannot suffer. And it is just going to die anyways when it is discarded. Why waste these embryos when they have so much potential. I do not believe that an embryos deserves protection because they are not living. My definition of living is to have a heart and a heart beat. An embryo has not developed a heart yet. Also, if this country can allow abortion then what is the problem with embryonic stem cell research? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Does an Embryo Deserve Protection?
By ilovethemoviepe... - Posted on May 23rd, 2009
I try to avoid thinking and discussing the issue of stem cell research for a variety of reasons but you've convinced me that it is something I, and other Americans, should be thinking and discussing. I don’t know enough about embryonic stem cell research to make an argument one way or another. Also, it seems to be a hopeless moral conflict that is irresolvable. It’s wrong to kill human life but it is also wrong to stifle the promising development of miraculous treatments of cures to save many human lives and prevent horrible suffering. It’s a messy issue that has no morally sound solution and never will.
Anyway, thank you for your presentation and explanation of this issue. I’m very knowledgeable and intelligent but you taught me a lot about a subject I’ve been wrongly avoiding. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and rational analysis about embryonic stem cell research with the ProgressiveU.org community. You brought the issue close to home with the arthritis mention because two years ago, when I was eighteen, I woke up with random horrible pain and swelling in every joint in my body. It got worse and I missed a few says of school because I was basically crippled some mornings. It would take me five painful minutes to get my body down the stairs to the kitchen for a drink of water. A rheumatologist diagnosed me with arthritis and I went through a painful few months before it went into remission, where it’s stayed ever since thank God. You’ve got me thinking.
Thanks for your comment!