by Lori O'Day

Created on: January 13, 2007   Last Updated: May 04, 2007

Stem Cell Research Is Killing or Saving Life?

If you are anything like me, you hear of a controversial topic or conversation and you are all over itto see what the hub-bub is all about so you then have the opportunity to form your own opinion. The stem cell research debate has been around for years and turns many heads. I realized when I first paid attention to the notion of harvesting fertilized human eggs for the purpose of tests and studies that there were oh, so many factors which needed consideration before making an opinion as to where I stood. First, I had to decide if I liked the idea the "to harvest or not to harvest" question. Did there seem to be enough benefit to cover the moral cost of killing potential humans? The science is risky at best and it needs years to work itself out. There will be years of creation, destruction and funding before we are able to reap its rewards. Who should foot the bill? Someone has to pay for it all, but who?

According to dictionary.com, a stem cell is an unspecialized cell which divides into specialized cells. Scientists generally gather up stem cells from two places from the bone marrow of existing humans, and from fertilized human eggs which are generally less than a week past conception. There is some controversy about which method reaps a better sample. Each time any human egg is fertilized it divides into many daughter cells that each get their own orders for action. Some will develop into ears while others become heart valves or red blood cells or eyeballs. Simply put, a stem cell is the parent cell which becomes a big family of cells, all working together to create a human body.

Now that we know what stem cells are, we can move on to the fun part: the debate, the fight, the posturing.

You might guess that the cogitations regarding stem cell research regard the propriety of the creation of stem cells for research purposes; the moral dilemma. Well, they are. But, they ought to also include the idea of the manor of funding. President George Bush, back in 2001, passed a bill to disallow Federal funding of stem cell research. An important note he did not ban stem cell research, only the Federal funding of such. It is perfectly legal for private labs to run their stem cell research. At first glance' any Libertarian would be glad this fellow separated such an event from another drain on taxpayers' pockets. Although he did make what is, in my mind, a good decision, I believe he banned stem cell research for the wrong reason.

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