News-Record.com

I understand that there's a ballot measure coming up in Texas that will by law define a fertilized egg as a "human being." I wonder if the people who thought this up know enough about biology to understand the ramifications of such a notion.

Considering that most fertilized eggs never implant in the uterus and are flushed out of the system, and that many that do implant die before pregnancy is even detected, laws regarding the handling and disposal of "human remains" will have to be amended.

Opponents to stem cell research argue that it should be abandoned because no success has been achieved yet. Interesting... I wonder if these same people would have told the Wright brothers they might as well stop trying to make their airplane because of all the centuries that men had been trying to make one without success.

Eric,
1. Its a means of clarifying the sancitity and value of all human life - all life. It is issue specific in that its establishes that if the baby killing forces take an ich they'll take a mile.

2. There is ample evidence that stem cells from other sources than fetuses have as much or more promise. Some things we just shouldn't do, regardless of the expediencies and short cuts. We are already playing God in other areasbiological experiementation. Brave New World may be just around the corner if we're not CAREFUL.

We just seem to be consequence challenged today.

http://www.jesusandmo.net/2007/07/27/cells/

I still say it's a road we shouldn't start down. Stem cell research - great! But not by destroying fertilized eggs (blastocyts). The way scientists so freely go beyond moral and ethical limits in other areas, (cloning, organ harvesting, et al.), using fetal matter could easily escalate to indiscriminate harvesting from embryos, even humans in other vulnerable conditions.

I wonder how killing infants in (and outside) the womb affected the ease with which scientists use and manipulate human fetal tissue. Once babies are seen as expendable blobs of tissue anything can be done with them: throw ‘em in the dumpster or harvest cells (or organs) from them. Aborting women might even find it a great source of extra income (under the counter – for now, that is).

All uses that do not TERMINATE human fetal development are probably OK - ethically. Experimentation has already begun with umbilical cord tissue, amniotic fluid, baby teeth, adult bone marrow, et al. Pro-life people are NOT against helping cure the sick – just not at any cost. Turning one’s ethical head doesn’t right a wrong. IMO it's an ethical line that, if crossed, could prove negative and counterproductive down the road. Caving to the expediency of the moment, more often than not, proves tragic in the end. And I’m not laughing, Eric.