I'll say no, as the zygote had no choice in the matter. And someone will bring up the issue of blood, but that is different as an individual freely chooses to give up their blood to help another and the extraction of blood doesn't negate an actual human life.
Stem Cell Research article
by DevonMcBride 112 Replies latest jw friends
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DevonMcBride
Thank you for giving me an honest answer.
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Dune
Society in general has a gross disrepect for unborn children. We have abortions, in vitro fertilization and now embryonic stem cell research. But this i think this goes beyond religion and ethics. The thing i've always found funny about Embryonic stem cell research is how it's supporters talk as if cures and solutions to dieseases is just around the corner and if only the US stopped BS'in and started funding research. This is NOT the case. Most scientists agree that embryonic stem cells will not have any common medical use for at least 20 years IF at all.
The biggest problem right now with Embryonic stem cells is their rapid, uncontrollable growth rate. Some scientists have even gone as far as saying that the success of the medicinal embryonic stem cells totally relies on that of the overall success we've had in Cancer research, which has been lax since it started in the 70's.
Until then, i think scientist should focus on stem cells that DO work. Such as The adult stem cells found in bone marrow.
Thats just my two cents.
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the_classicist
That's not to say we can't use the research that was acheived by using embryonic stem cells as that has already been contributed to science. For example, the Nazi doctors did horrible things to research drugs and other things on human beings. We don't disregard this research, but we would never use the unethical practices used to obtain the research nor do we condone it.
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Mary
I'm curious to know how many opposers would turn down life-saving medical treatments if stem cells/human embryos were used to create them. Don't you think it would be hypocritical for a stem cell opposer to accept a treatment created from this type of research?
Hmmmm........ya, but no more hypocritical than a JW who accepts a blood transfusion when push comes to shove........until you're in that situation, you don't know what you'll do.
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Iforget
Well as a woman who has undergone 5 IVF treatments that were unsucessful, there were embryo's that we had that would NOT develop into a viable baby. However those cells could have been used for research. The clinic that we used would not donate with or without our consent. I would have been happy to donate those cells for research purposes.
I find that many people who pontificate on this subject have ZERO idea what they are talking about when it comes to embryos and what constitutes viability as far as a pregnancy and live birth is concerned. Some of my embryo's developed into 2 or 5 cells with a high grade BUT would not develop beyond that if they were implanted. I have implanted 7 cells embies that did not take. These are CELLS-only- NOT babies as the media would have people think.
Dune: I am not sure what you mean by we have abortion and IVF but they are mutually exclusive. No one has the right to judge when you have not stood in infertility shoes. Science is a double edge sword. I have found ALL of my doctors to be moral and ethical.
I have never used tax dollars to fund what I have done with my vagina and uterus so I figure it's really no one's concern but mine and hubbies.
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Dune
My problem is when do you decide that an unborn child is Human or Human enough to have rights that the born have? I mean. Is it the very second a child is born that he or she becomes human and is granted rights that we abuse everday? Or is it actually when brain activity begins or when they grow arms and feet or their heart starts beating? I think when something like that is on the line, we're better off leaving it alone. But i guess its easier for me to say that now. Its just one of those subjects that will have to be dealt with sooner or later.
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Iforget
And once again you simply are not understanding the science. It's is a very finite and indepth process to grow an embryo. You can tell by color and by fragmentation and number of cells over a period of 3-5 days if an embryo will develop. After only 3 years of trying I could tell by the pictures they gave me on day 3 if the cycle would be viable.
If they do a 5-day transfer of blastocyst cells then there is a better chance of a viable pregnancy or baby.
If you haven't been thru it or are not an RE or a embryologist you simply have no idea what the science is. Hard to base an opinion without full knowledge.
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Dune
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the_classicist
Human life begins at conception: when the cell takes upon the 48 chormosomes of human beings. It's not about whether pregnancy is viable or not, it's that scientists are creating human life in a laboratory and usually destroying it, which is what happens regularly in IVF. Does it really matter if they can't feel any pain? I would think that even bacteria can feel a certain kind of 'pain', but not the kind produced by our sophisticated neurological system for even bacteria are able to sense harmful substances and move away from them. What is pain, anyway, except the detection of a negative or harmful stimulus? Nevertheless, it wouldn't be permissible to kill someone even if we made sure they didn't feel any pain. Some may argue that there is no consciousness, while that may be it's still a human.
The only reason most people "need" IVF is because they delay nature and fertility by putting their careers ahead of raising a family. To say my controversial thing of the day that people are going to yell at me for: it is extremely irresponsible to put one's wish for a genetically related child ahead of the human life of the rest of the embryoes that are "discarded."
Likewise, the use of those embryoes in scientific research is tantamount to experimenting on a child or using it's organs for harvest. Well, we've already "disigner babies" that parents use to harvest genetically compatible material for their sick children. We must respect the bounds of life and death or else human life is cheapened, moreso than it already is.