by R. Cunningham

Created on: May 16, 2009   Last Updated: May 20, 2009

Embryonic stem cells are one of the most fascinating and controversial areas of biotechnology. Scientists hope to harness the power of stem cells and make them into somewhat of a human repair kit. However, there is a deep division over of the ethics behind using these cells. While stem cells could revolutionize medicine, they also raise profound ethical questions about what steps should be taken to restore health or save lives. Objections to using human embryonic stem cells for this type of research arise from the belief that human embryos are nothing less than individual beings in the earliest stages of life. Ethicists, using a Kantian or deontological approach, propose that the embryo has human rights that we must respect, even though they are not a fully developed human. Kantian ethics also denotes that no person (or potential person) should ever be treated as merely a "means" for some other person's happiness. Therefore, it is clearly morally wrong to treat embryos, which are the seeds of the next generation, as mere raw material for satisfying the needs of our own.

Embryos, even at the earliest stages, possess moral status because they contain human potentiality. Taking into account that all human beings are considered equal, it should follow that they should not be harmed or considered to be less than human on the basis of age, size, or stage of development. Fertilization produces a new and complete organism that possesses the ability to grow into adulthood with its own human dignity and identity in tact. Even though, not all fertilization events through natural intercourse lead to an adult, we were all once, ourselves, in the early embryonic stage of development. In this stage, we possessed all of the genetic material needed to inform, organize, and determine our growth. We were all there, in the exact same stage of development as these embryos and possessed the very same Kantian rights as they do. Embryos are not just a potential life; they are a life with potential: the potential to become an adult, just as fetuses, infants, and children are. An embryo is not something distinct and separate from a human being; it is instead a human being at the earliest stage of its development.

Much of the debate concerning the morality of embryos centers on the question of when life begins. It must be understood that development is a continuous process, and as such, there is no special moment when human life suddenly becomes worthy of respect and human rights. All humans deserve full respect because of the kind of being they are - a human being. This respect is not due to acquired characteristics or abilities, which we all hold in varying degrees even once fully grown. According to Kantian moral code, this worth is intrinsic inside all humans. Embryos, therefore, possess this worth and should not be used as means to an end, even good ends such as cures for diseases or to save another human life.

Although, applying the theories utilitarian ethics, the potential uses of embryonic stem cells may contribute to the greater good of society, one must be more concerned about the moral consequences on the embryo, a living human being, itself. According to Kantian ethics, we can never use a human being as a means for satisfying the needs of our own. Therefore, we must understand that embryos, which are the very seeds of our next generation, must be valued as any other human being and should not be used, even for the potential of great consequences.

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