Nilsen,
You asked if I would refuse treatment for a life-threatening disease if that treatment involved some moral issue. I have thought about that, and would like to believe that I would have the moral strength to say "no."
But humans are weak...and none of us could know the answer to that until the actual time came to make such a decision.
Some of those calling for such research are doing so for selfish reasons, and don't give a fig for the moral dilemma that such research raises. We are a spoiled nation. An embryo can't talk; ergo it isn't human. The potential humanity of that embryo be dammed...gimme my cure!
Others who support this research do so because the research agencies, news agencies, and political groups pushing for federal funding of this research have been very effective in convincing the public that it has tremendous potential.
Well...maybe...but so far, despite massive amounts of time and money being spent on it, embryonic stem-cell research has yet to produce a single successful cure of a suffering patient. Not one. Indeed, the cells are wildly unpredictable and unmanageable in their growth. If it wasn't for the blogs, such monumental failures would seldom be heard about. It is intellectually dishonest for the researchers to continue to lobby for federal funding for a research program that some feel will ultimately turn out to be a dead end.
On the other hand, ADULT stem-cell research shows immense promise, and has already produced numerous success stories, for adult stem-cells are NOT wildly unpredictable in growth and development, and involve no moral and ethical problems.
The type of research mention at the start of this thread, which extracts stem cells from an embryon without ending or marring its potential development also raises fewer moral and ethical questions.
So the question arises, why are we still beating our heads together over federal funding for the stem-cell research that has yet to produce a single success? Other lines of research exist, as I have shown, that have vastly more potential and far fewer ethical points to divide American citizens.
Regards, Shuckins
