Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research was the cover story on the most recent Time magazine though, there were more articles on the war between Lebanon and Israel. As I was thinking about those who are against embryonic stem cell research I first admired their consistency. They believe life begins at conception and so it logically follows that they would be against using fertilized embryos in this way. The question I asked myself was, “why don’t they protest other attacks on life?” As I mentioned the other articles in Time magazine dealt primarily with war, why isn’t the pro-life movement anti-war? Why doesn’t the pro-life movement march against the death penalty? Why weren’t they the first to bring up issues of genocide and ethnic cleansing in places such as Rwanda and Serbia? Why didn’t they march on Washington with pictures of children missing arms and legs because we were too slow to act to prevent warlords from exterminating whole tribes? If life is so precious, why don’t they fight for decent health care or fight against poverty, two leading killers of people around the world?

If they’re serious about ending abortion why don’t they attack the reasons most women get them? Why don’t they fight for a living wage? Why don’t they work for better access to birth control for women? Once again, Health care. Having a baby isn’t cheap. Why don’t they fight for better day care? Better maternity leave? Currently, a company is only legally required to keep your position open, they don’t have to pay you when you’re not working. What woman can make the decision to stop working for 2-3 months without pay, while racking up medical expenses? What about stiffer penalties for men who sleep with women and then leave when the stick turns pink?

Of course, looking for consistency and logic among fanatics is not a good way to spend your time. And even if they were consistent, I’d still think they were wrong. Stem cell research has great potential. Those who claim it is mostly hype are mostly those trying to get us not to do it. 20 years ago the word “cancer” was synonymous with “death”. Now it’s “what type do you have?” The chances of survival are different for different types and what area of the body it attacks. In another 20 years, cancer of any sort may not mean anything more than an overnight stay at the hospital. People live with HIV now. The fight against these diseases isn’t over, but we’re winning more battles. Medical advances take a long time, due to (necessary) restrictions against tests on humans. So why would we saddle ourselves with even more limitations. Every year that we withhold federal funding of embryonic stem cell research adds another year to the DECADE it will take before the experimental drug can reach the clinical trial phase. Let’s stop letting fanatics decide scientific and public policy. Let’s stop letting fanatics elect our leaders. We're a majority on this issue, and we should make our voices heard.