Life Alert™

The Great Embryonic Stem Cell Myth

To most Americans 58-0 would appear to be the result of a lopsided football contest. In actuality, the tally is an ongoing count of debilitating diseases that are currently being treated by adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells, respectively. Brain cancer, Parkinson's disease, breast cancer, sickle cell anemia, multiple sclerosis, heart damage and spinal cord injury - just to name a few. These conditions are today being treated with adult stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, the placenta, liver, retina and numerous other locations that are accessible throughout our lives - all without causing any disproportionate harm to the donor. So why has the general public not embraced adult stem cell research? The answer is simple; it's called the great embryonic stem cell research myth.

Embryonic stem cell research has been sold to the public as a miracle cure-all for some of the most devastating diseases that ail humanity. For several decades scientists have been conducting this research, which directly involves the killing of living human embryos to extract their stem cell lines. What treatments have 30 years of this research produced? None. Supporters, however, continually allege that life-saving cures are right around the corner. Embryonic stem cells have not been approved for clinical trials in human beings because the cells are tumorigenic, meaning they have a tendency to form tumors. In addition to promoting tumor formation, embryonic stem cells can cause immune rejection unless they are taken from a clone of the person who is to receive the stem cells. Consequently, if embryonic stem cell research is ever successful, it will inevitably lead to human cloning.

Legislation passing the U.S. House would require every taxpayer to financially support embryonic stem cell research. The simple fact of the matter is that in no way, shape or form should state or federal government allocate public tax dollars for the purpose of destructive human research. Government has no right, whether through constitutional or natural law, to enact public policies for the purpose of creating and then terminating human life. We are reminded that all men are created equal, and are endowed by their Creator with the certain unalienable rights of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." These rights must be afforded to all, not just the strong and powerful. Indeed, pursuing a public policy of cloning human embryos in a lab to be killed for research purposes is a disturbing, unethical practice that enslaves the weak and vulnerable.

Our responsibility as citizens is to protect the weak and vulnerable, especially those who have no voice. Supporters of embryonic stem cell research assert that "leftover" embryos from in-vitro fertilization will "just be thrown out anyway." Yet the RAND Corporation of IVF Clinics in the United States tells us that only 2.2 percent of these embryos are actually discarded, with only a small number possibly yielding stem cells. If government decides to authorize public funding for the continued destructive research of embryos, where will they come from? Are we headed down the path of exploiting women for their eggs? Perhaps lost in all the rhetoric is the moral question, and the moral responsibility we have to safeguard innocent human life from harm.

Such moral safeguards are available right now thanks to the 58 ongoing adult stem cell treatments and their promising advancements. Today, these treatments are improving the lives of countless Americans who are suffering from many debilitating conditions. The path is promising, ethical and proven. It is important that we understand the whole story behind stem cell research, and as a result understand that to support adult stem cell research while opposing embryonic stem cell research is not ideological but ethically principled and fully consistent with the goals of science. Although, the great embryonic stem cell myth will continue to persist until citizens, government officials and the media collectively work to advance the source of real treatments -adult stem cell research. 58-0 is a compelling score.

- Kristen Cella is an associate for public policy of pro-life and social welfare issues with the Michigan Catholic Conference.