Underdeveloped human tissues can help save the living
MARIANNE MEANS
Syndicated columnist
Washington- The political struggle over abortion intrudes once again on
an issue crucial to the health of millions of Americans, pitting reverence
for undevel-
oped , unborn human tissue against potential advances in medical treatment for
living men, women and children.
In this case it is not the mental and physical well-being of a
pregnant
woman that is endangered but that of victims suffering from Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's diseases, diabetes and other serious illnesses.
Where should compassion lie? With inanimate, non-breathing embryonic
stem cells or disabled and sick friends and family members needing medical
help?
No contest, I say. Save the living.
Scientific evidence indicates that biomedical research on human
embryonic
stem cells could lead to remedies for all sorts of life-threatening human
afflictions not now
curable. Scientists do not consider the cells themselves to be embryos
because they can
be extracted and isolated and have not yet grown into the specialized
matter that makes
up muscles, nerves, blood and organs. The potential for unprecedented
medical miracles
by replacing diseased tissue with stem cells is astonishing.
But anti-abortion activists don't care about reality.
They equate the cells with an intact, full-term fetus and demand the same
legal rights for
the cells as those granted a living person.
"Stem cell research is immoral," thunders Sen. Sam Brownback,
R-Kan, a
leading anti-abortion crusader.
Sen. Arlen Specter,R-Pa, and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, define dignity and
morality differently. They say that stem cell research hold so much
potential that
"it is morally wrong" to keep scientists from pursing it. Their priority
is in giving
millions in pain the chance for a life-saving cure.
Caught in the emotional clamor are federal regulations, issued in
August,
that require all stem cell research to be conducted under strict ethical
guidelines.
Under the rules, the microscopic clumps of cells must come from
embryos
created in clinics for fertility treatment, and are due to be discarded
because they are
no longer needed. Extra embryos are often created for multiple in-vitro
pregnancies
attempts.
