Joan - I was moved by the clarity and honesty of your article when I
first read it and it moves me now.  I have just returned to the list
after a long absence.  I miss Bob Fink (though I didn't agree with his
politics/ethics) and I am glad to see that the voice of reason still is
heard through you.

Nancy deGrazia

Joan Snyder wrote:

> thanks rayilynlee for posting this amazing man's amazing column.
> clearly, don reed is the vioce of reason when it comes to the red-hot
> debate over stem cells. this column should be printed on the front page
> of every newspaper in America and on the front of every church bulliten,
> and splashed across the tv. only when Americans stop equating embryonic
> stem cell research with abortion will we ever get what what we need from
> the federal government. this column only goes to re-inforce something
> that i have long preachd; i am going to reprint an article that i first
> posted here a few years ago:
>
> Stem Cells and Cloning -- The Science behind the Rhetoric
>
> by Joan Snyder
>
> Out there on the political battlefield of stem cell research, sides have
> been taken, many rounds fired, and causalities sustained by both sides.
> So much smoke fills the air that it’s almost impossible to think
> straight. The cause of the confusion is often language: words as
> powerful as flamethrowers ignite fierce reactions from both sides.
>
> I am Joan Snyder. Many of you know me as a wife and mom and a
> parishioner at St. Edward Catholic Church in Chillicothe, Illinois.
> Others know me as a 51 year old woman who has been diagnosed with
> Parkinson’s Disease for 13 years, who is an advocate and fundraiser on
> behalf of people with this condition. And those who know me well have
> seen for years now that I walk a moral tightrope regarding the
> controversial ethical problems that have challenged not only people with
> my disease, but also those with Alzheimer’s (which killed my father),
> juvenile diabetes, ALS, spinal chord injury, stroke, heart disease, and
> other devastating conditions that could possibly be cured through stem
> cell research, including so-called “therapeutic cloning.”
>
> I am hopeful that medical research will provide us with new remedies
> whose approval will require neither that I compromise my Catholic
> Pro-Life beliefs, nor that I turn my back on the many thousands of
> fellow PWP’s (people with Parkinson’s). I have gotten to know a good
> number of them, both in person and on the web –and as if looking into a
> mirror, I’ve seen their slow, downward pantomime. And I’ve also learned
> about some of the complexities of this research, and about the
> confusions that cloud the essential scientific and ethical issues.
>
> I’d like to begin by noting that there are some quite thoughtful,
> anti-abortion Christians – including people like Nancy Reagan and
> Senators Orrin Hatch and Strom Thurmond – who strongly support
> therapeutic cloning research. Some Catholic Theologians, such as Thomas
> Shannon, also support this research. Let’s examine the issue, and see if
> we can understand why.
>
> Here are definitions of some of the scary words out there:
>
> _STEM CELLS _--Undifferentiated, primitive cells with the ability to
> reproduce themselves and to differentiate into specific kinds of cells.
> If we – or, I should say, the scientists among us -- can understand
> better how stem cells grow and specialize – then we can use them to
> treat injuries and diseases. There are different types of stem cells and
> different ways of generating and gathering them.
>
> _BIOMEDICAL CLONING -- _Cloning is a quite general term in biology that
> denotes the creation of multiple, identical copies of a gene, cell or
> virus. There are many types of cloning, some of which are now
> commonplace in biomedicine. Cloning has allowed scientists to develop
> powerful new drugs and to produce insulin and useful bacteria in the
> lab. It is one among several new genetic tools that allow researchers to
> track the origins of biological weapons, identify criminals, and produce
> foods more efficiently. Some of these scientific applications are
> rightly controversial, but what I’ve discovered is that so-called
> “therapeutic cloning,” in particular, is entirely safe and ethical. But
> more about that below.
>
> _REPRODUCTIVE CLONING –_ This is the use of cloning technology to create
> a child. It aims to take cells from a person (or sheep, creating Dolly)
> and use them to create a genetically identical organism. I find the
> concept of human reproductive cloning abhorrent and immoral. I think
> that this kind of research should be banned right away.
>
> _THERAPEUTIC CLONING _(technically known as SOMATIC CELL NUCLEAR
> TRANSFER, or SCNT) --This involves removing the nucleus of an
> unfertilized egg cell, and replacing it with the nucleus of a “somatic
> cell” (for example, an adult skin, heart, or nerve cell) and stimulating
> this cell to divide. Once the cell begins dividing, stem cells can be
> extracted within one week and used for research. The SCNT cell remains
> in a laboratory on a Petri dish, and the process does NOT involve sperm
> at all, does NOT use a fertilized egg, and does NOT produce an embryo to
> be implanted in a woman’s uterus.
>
> The words “stem cell” sometimes evoke an explosive reaction in people on
> both sides of the abortion issue. The fact is that stem cells are in our
> own blood, brains, and other parts of our bodies. Scientists think that
> with further research, these adult stem cells may help us cure disease
> like Parkinson’s, juvenile diabetes and many other diseases … but no one
> knows for sure. There is the research being conducted right here in
> Peoria by Dr. Rick Weber who is an Associate Professor of
> Immunopharmacology and Microbiology here at the University of Illinois
> College of Medicine, who is working on stem cell research that uses a
> patient’s own white blood cells to help cure that patient.
>
> There are also stem cells that can be harvested from umbilical cord
> blood that is routinely discarded after a baby is born. Around the
> nation, cord blood banks are being set up to help doctors and families
> donate their umbilical cord for research.
>
> We would all favor this humane stem cell research, if we understand it.
> The problem lies in the very mention of the words “stem cells.” People
> tend to forget that there are many kinds of stem cells that scientists
> work with. “Embryonic stem cells” are the flashpoint that ignites both
> sides of the abortion issue. Sometimes these are harvested from
> “leftover” embryos that are created by a couple using in-vitro
> fertilization. These embryos are routinely destroyed by clinics and
> hospitals each day. Should they be discarded in this way? It is at this
> point that clouds of uncertainty obscure our vision and raise serious
> questions:
>
> Which is more pro-life: to destroy these embryos, which will never
> become children because they are not transplanted into a woman’s womb?
> Or to give these embryos value by using them to advance life-saving
> research? I have to admit that I don’t how to handle this ethical hot
> potato. But I can tell you that over the years, watching this disease
> take my life and those of my friends away little by little, sometimes
> makes me deeply question my own beliefs.
>
> So, this brings us back to the issue of cloning. The key to
> understanding the issue lies in the distinction between reproductive
> cloning -- which should be banned immediately -- and life-saving,
> therapeutic cloning. Therapeutic cloning is entirely moral, in agreement
> with the fundamental values of all of the major religions, and offers
> great promise for curing terrible, fatal diseases that affect young and
> old people alike. Therapeutic cloning will save lives; it cannot create
> them.
>
> I hope that I have helped to clear up some of the misconceptions about
> cloning, and to find common ground where pro-life and the pro-choice
> people can come together in a united effort to heal the devastation and
> suffering of so many.
>
>
> --
> Joan Blessington Snyder   54/14
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.pwnkle.com/jes/jes_web/index.htm
> “Hang tough……..no way through it but to do it.”
> Chris in the Morning      Northern Exposure
>
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