I think most people will agree that human LIFE begins as soon as the sperm cell and egg melt together and new cells start to form. When this process goes on a human baby will grow out of these cells, so they are definitely human life. But where do these cells start to be a human BEING? That is the question where all the discussions are about. Are two cells a human being? I don't think so. Are four cells a human being? Not really. I think these cells start to be a human being as soon as they start differentiating and something like an embryo can be recognized.

But that doesn't answer the question that is always the reason for this other question: can you use this human-life-but-not-a-human-bei ng-yet for research? Should you make such cells just for the purpose of finding a cure for a disease? In my opinion you cross a line there. You can't mess around with human life and that's what is done with all that research. When you create human life for IVF, with the intention to let those cells grow out to a baby then for me that's just acceptable. But there's the line. The embryos that are created and can't be used should be discarded and not used for research. It's bad enough that this situation arises as a "by product" of IVF and that you will have to destroy human life. But once you allow scientists to use these redundant embryos for research, then the next step is that they are allowed to create human life for research. And yes, the slippery slope is there, whether scientists like it or not.

I know that there are lots of people who are sick or disabled and hope that stem cell research with embryos will give them the cure they need. But sometimes we must accept that things in life don't always go the way we want it. We must accept that there are lines we shouldn't cross. And scientists should look for alternatives, which often are available.

I have a pretty bad disease myself and I would love to be cured. But if scientist would promise me a cure in five years, using human life for experiments, I would say "no, thank you". And yes, I'm very serious with that. Human life should be sacred and not something we let scientists mess around with.

Learn more about this author, Rixta Francis.
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