 |
 |
Referring to the extraction of stem cells from 5-day old embryos left over from in vitro fertilization, President Bush once said that "life should not be destroyed to save or make another life." The president failed to distinguish between two different meanings of the term "life," 1) biological life and 2) lived life. Biological life is the coordinated functioning of body parts. Lived life is the actions and experience of the person whose life it is. Lived life is the life that we value and have a right to. It is what we fear losing when life may be taken from us. Biological life is the medium through which lived life happens. Biological life is valuable not in itself, but rather as it supports lived life. The life that begins at conception is only biological. Lived life arises later following formation of a brain. At the stage of development when stem cells are extracted, there are no rights to be violated and no person to be harmed. That is why donation of surplus embryos to medical research is not human sacrifice, but is rather like organ donation. To say that the early embryo has a right to life or that its life is "taken" or "lost" when stem cells are extracted is as inappropriate as it is to say that the rain's right to fall is violated when the sun comes out. Phil Tompkins Amherst, MA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn