....here are some links I have found helpful:
Bush Rejects Calls on Stem-Cell Research
(AP) - The White House rejected calls Monday from Ronald Reagan's family and others to relax President Bush's restrictions on stem-cell research in pursuit of potential cures for illnesses. Bush signed an executive order in August 2001 that limited federal help to financing stem cell research on 78 embryonic stem cell lines then in existence. Because day-old embryos are destroyed when stem cells are extracted, the process is opposed by some conservatives who link it to abortion. More ...
http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=science&cat=stem_cell_research<another site>
STEM CELL RESEARCH
All sides to the dispute.
Quotations:
"...research involving human pluripotent stem cells...promises new treatments and possible cures for many debilitating diseases and injuries, including Parkinson's disease, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, burns and spinal cord injuries. The NIH believes the potential medical benefits of human pluripotent stem cell technology are compelling and worthy of pursuit in accordance with appropriate ethical standards." National Institutes of Health news release. 1
"...it is ridiculous for people who have already decided that it is moral to kill babies in the womb to show some squeamishness about destroying human embryos in a petri dish. Hell, man, once you decide to become a child-killer, their ages no longer matter. Or the numbers. Damnation of your soul is completed with the first one." Charley Reese 2
"Cal Thomas' article against stem cell research....is not particularly useful, because it does not deal with his fundamental belief that human person hood begins at conception. Similarly, articles by medical groups that promote stem cell research are not helpful, because they do not touch on their fundamental belief that embryos are not human persons. If there is to be any hope of resolving these issues, we must debate when human person hood begins. If we can reach a near consensus on this, then abortion, in-vitro fertilization, stem cell research and other debates will neatly resolve themselves." Comment letter to the Jewish World Review
The web site of CovenantNews.com on 2001-AUG-28 featured articles about stem cell research. Headings were:: "Murder by Abortion," "Get Your Human Sacrifice Grant Here," The file name is murder.htm.
Overview:
A stem cell is a primitive type of cell that can be coaxed into developing into most of the 220 types of cells found in the human body (e.g. blood cells, heart cells, brain cells, etc). Some researchers regard them as offering the greatest potential for the alleviation of human suffering since the development of antibiotics. Over 100 million Americans suffer from diseases that may eventually be treated more effectively with stem cells or even cured. These include heart disease, diabetes, and certain types of cancer.
Stem cells can be extracted from very young human embryos -- typically from surplus frozen embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization procedures at fertility clinics. There are currently about 100,000 surplus embryos in storage. However, a minority of pro-lifers object to the use of embryos. They feel that a few-days-old embryo is a human person. Extracting its stem cells kills the embryo -- an act that they consider murder. Stem cells can now be grown in the laboratory, so (in a pinch) some research can be done using existing stem cells. No further harvesting needs to be made from embryos. However, existing stem cell lines are degrading and will soon be useless for research.
Stem cells can also be extracted from adult tissue, without harm to the subject. Unfortunately, they are difficult to remove, are severely limited in quantity, and appear to be limited in usefulness.
Research using stem cells had been authorized in Britain, but was initially halted in the U.S. by President George W. Bush. He decided on 2001-AUG-9 to allow research to resume in government labs, but restricted researchers to use only 72 existing lines of stem cells. By 2003-MAY, most of these lines had become useless; some of the lines are genetically identical to others; only 11 remain available for research. Research continues in U.S. private labs and in both government and private labs in the UK, Japan, France, Australia, and other countries. On 2002-SEP, Governor Davis of California signed bill SB 253 into law. It is the first law in the U.S. that permits stem cell research. Davis simultaneously signed a bill that permanently bans all human cloning in the state for reproduction purposes -- i.e. any effort to create a cloned individual.
Following former president Ronald Reagan's death due to Alzheimer's in 2004-JUN -- a slow, lingering death that took a decade to kill him, Nancy Reagan and family have mounted a campaign to encourage President Bush to relax restrictions on embryo stem cell research. Fifty-eight senators, almost all Democrats, sent a letter to President Bush, urging the same action.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/res_stem.htm<more links on Stem Cell topic>
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/http://www.stemcellresearch.org/http://www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org/http://www.stemcellresearchnews.com/http://www.aaas.org/spp/sfrl/projects/stem/main.htmhttp://www.aaas.org/spp/cstc/briefs/stemcells/index.shtmlhttp://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemcells/http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809-2.htmlhttp://www.isscr.org/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
