Stem Cell Research
Stem cells look to be nothing more than a hollow sphere composed of a clump of tiny, roundish balls. In reality, they are much more than that. Those 40 cells contain all the potential to become a living, breathing human being. Many scientists believe that these cells also have the potential to cure a myriad of diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and many others. The cells of the four day old human embryo can be programmed to become virtually any cell in the body making them a very valuable commodity. All this sounds very promising until one realizes the cost of acquiring these miracle cells. Gathering stem cells from human embryos can be looked at as nothing less that taking a life. (Begley 23) There are multiple reasons that the government should not fund research on embryonic stem cells but the most important has got to be the inevitable destruction of life involved. What good is saving lives when they are being taken at the same time? How much since does that make? Who are we to decide whether these embryos get their chance at life or not? Making a decision like that is playing God. Pure and simple. We don't even know for sure that stem cells can live up t
There are also several claims that adult cells proliferate much more slowly than embryonic ones, and that they may not provide a renewing source of new stem cells. Ira Black of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School stated "It raises possibility that all of us are harboring the seeds of our own self-renewal. To get to their cures, they must first destroy living human embryos to obtain the stem cells. Can it really be worth it? Even if stem cells could turn out to be the miracle cure that scientists hope they are, think of the effect on the population and economy. Something that given the opportunity can become a full fledged, living, breathing, human being. o the expectations that scientists have for them. They have the right to live, and not to be destroyed, just like anyone else. If there is any way that stem cells can benefit us medically, the answer will be found through them. There is no justifiable reason to take this route, especially with the Presidents promise to provide "aggressive federal funding of research on the umbilical-cord, placenta, and adult and animal stem cells, which do not involve the same dilemma. Experimentation like this is a crime no less than abortion and cannot be morally justified. The drain that such an occurrence would put on the economy is almost immeasurable.
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